MATCH

Partner(s): Burton Edelstein College of Dental Medicine Access: Columbia only Revised: September 2014 Released: December 2011 VIEW PROJECT

Multidisciplinary Approaches To Children's Oral Health (MATCH) is a set of online learning modules which can also serve as resources for practicing and future pediatric dentists to learn how they can work with other health care professionals to ensure a child's oral health and overall well-being. Children's oral health is determined by social, behavioral, genetic, nutritional, and educational factors--as well as by dental care. MATCH is an innovative effort to demonstrate how partnering with experts from these fields can enhance a dentist's practice and help children and their families obtain the highest levels of oral health.

The MATCH website features information on professionals such as social workers and pediatricians and suggests ways dentists can work most effectively with them. Documentary-style videos present interviews with pediatric dentists and other professionals who have successfully worked together.

The site was developed by CCNMTL and Burton Edelstein, professor of clinical dentistry and clinical health policy and management. MATCH is funded by a $1.6 million, 5-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for the training of post-doctoral dentists. Each year of the project will focus on a different health care profession, adding resources related to working with individuals in that field. The first year of the project focused on social workers; year two focused on nutritionists; and year three focused on speech language pathologists.

See also: PASS

Related project categories:
Medicine and Health | Online & Directed Learning | Training