NNOHA is the HRSA National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP) for Oral Health. As part of this NTTAP funding, NNOHA provides various national communities of practice for community health centers. Communities of Practice are peer-learning communities on specific topic areas. Communities of Practice promote shared learning and quality improvement methodology to implement new programs and processes. Check out our communities of practice below!

This Breakthrough Series Community of Practice works with health centers to implement the NNOHA User’s Guide for Implementation of Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies. Participating teams adopt and apply the oral health core clinical competencies (Risk Assessment, Oral Health Evaluation, Preventive Interventions, Communication and Education, and Interprofessional Collaborative Practice), resulting in integration of oral health and primary care practice for improved outcomes for health center patients.

Applications for the IDOH Community of Practice are closed. Stay tuned for the next cohort in Summer 2025.

The IBOH Community of Practice supports health centers to promote mental health well-being in their dental programs. Participating health centers work with NNOHA to implement behavioral health screenings (i.e. PHQ-2, PHQ-9) in the dental clinic. The community of practice uses the NNOHA User’s Guide for Implementation of Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies as a framework for behavioral health integration. This is a virtual community of practice.

Applications for the IBOH Community of Practice are closed. Stay tuned for the next cohort in Summer 2025.

The Sealant Learning Community of Practice is a virtual community of practice. This LCC helps health centers improve their UDS Sealant Measure. Dental sealants are an effective method to prevent dental caries. Even with the emergence of COVID-19, dental sealants can be applied safely and are a necessary service for pediatric patients.

Applications for the Sealant Learning Community of Practice are closed. Stay tuned for the next cohort in Fall/Winter 2025.

The Teledentistry for Access Community of Practice aims to increase access to oral health services through synchronous teledentistry by using more efficient practice systems, patient engagement, provider recruitment/retention, and clinical improvements. Participating health centers will review and share strategies for using synchronous teledentistry beyond traditional emergency triage.

The community of practice will cover the following topics:

• Teledentistry Policy

• Planning Your First Teledentistry Vision

• Creating a Vision for Teledentistry & Access in Your Organization

• Teledentistry as a Tool to Improve Access 

Applications for the Teledentistry for Access Community of Practice are closed. Stay tuned for the next cohort in Fall 2025.

This virtual community of practice includes six virtual webinars (90 minutes each). This community of practice helps health centers develop the framework for an in-house dental assistant training program. Participants will share strategies on how to optimize recruitment and retention strategies of dental assistants and learn planning considerations for dental assistant training programs.

Applications for the Dental Assistant Workforce Community of Practice are closed. Stay tuned for the next cohort in Fall 2025.