Home Visiting Resource

Home Visiting Resource


Using Cavity Free Kids for Home Visitors

Cavity Free Kids is designed to help families establish good oral health habits and connect to dental care. The home visiting resources complement the curricula and tools you use with your families and can be incorporated into topic areas you already address with them. You can help families set and reach oral health goals and address oral health problems or emergencies when they arise.

Set and Reach Oral Health Goals

First Home Visit: Ideally, you should introduce oral health and the Cavity Free Kids home visiting resources to the families you serve by first delivering The First Visit! Baby Teeth Are Important. Work with the parent to fill out the Let’s Talk Teeth questionnaire. Use her answers to help her set oral health goals using the Let’s Set Goals sheet.

Subsequent Home Visits: Choose from the other Basics of Oral Health based on the oral health goals she set at the first home visit and the age of her child.

For example, if you are talking to a mother of a 21-month-old and she is interested in serving her child tooth-healthy foods and finding dental care for him, plan to use these Basics of Oral Health:

  • Tooth Healthy Foods: Let’s Choose Tooth Healthy Foods! (6—36 months)
  • Going to the Dentist: Getting Regular Dental Checkups (6—36 months)

If, during your conversations, other oral health questions or topics arise, select other Basics of Oral Health or Little Bites to share with her. For example, if she is interested in checking her child’s teeth for tooth decay, share the Lift the Lip handout in the Little Bites section.

Use the Let’s Talk Teeth questionnaire regularly or as needed to set additional oral health goals with families.

Address Emergencies or Problems

You may also identify oral health emergencies or problems during your visits with clients. When these situations occur, select the appropriate Cavity Free Kids home visiting guide to help families address the problem.

For example, if during a home visit a parent mentions that her 4-year-old has tooth pain, snacks, and drinks juice and soda throughout the day, use the Basics of Oral Health Going to the Dentist, Water for Thirst, and Brush, Floss, Swish. Specifically, use these guides within the Basic:

  • Going to the Dentist: Make and Keep Regular Dental Checkups (3 to 5 years)
  • Tooth Healthy Foods: Tooth Healthy and Tooth Unhealthy Foods List (3 to 5 years)
  • Water for Thirst: Drink Like an Elephant (3 to 5 years)

In this case, because the child is experiencing pain, use the Going to the Dentist: Make and Keep Regular Dental Checkups (3 to 5 years) guide right away. After the family has been connected with a dentist and the oral health problem has been addressed, use the Tooth Healthy Foods (3 to 5 years) and the Water for Thirst: Drink Like an Elephant (3 to 5 years) guides.

For information on a training or for access to the full Home Visiting Resource please contact Matt Gonzalez: [email protected]