Kentucky Oral Health Innovation Initiative

KOHII establishes a new infrastructure designed to support and advance clinical, translational, and health services research related to oral/systemic health, public health, and health disparities. The three innovations of the initiative include:

1. Integration: Building support for greater integration of oral health into local overall health service delivery systems.
2. Information: Fostering partnerships among community members and the university for the generation of new information and knowledge.
3. Research Leadership: Creating new education and training opportunities to develop future leaders in dental public health and translational research, and expanding the research workforce needed to realize the KOHII mission.

The overall structure aligns research initiatives with NIH-NIDCR strategic planning research priorities.

Three main goals guide KOHII’s current activities: 

1. Strengthen oral health disparities research and its integration with strategic health disparities research across the University of Kentucky;
2. Reduce related health disparities in the Commonwealth, and; 
3. Re-establish dental public health capacity at UK for sustainability and growth of these efforts. 

• Developing an Oral Health Vulnerability Index for Kentucky: The objective of this study is to develop an Oral Health Vulnerability Index for Kentucky that will provide data on utilization of care associated with community and macro contextual social determinants of health. The proposal has two aims: 
  • Aim 1. Oral Health Utilization vs Social Vulnerability Index. To use integration analysis and multivariate risk analysis to determine 1) impact factors associated with dental/emergency care utilization considering state demographics and Medicaid enrollment rates and; 2) risk factors associated with specific types of dental treatment accessed (ex: preventive vs urgent care). 
  • Aim 2. Understanding Oral Health Resilience. Utilize a positive deviance approach to partner with communities that demonstrate oral health resilience (i.e. communities in outlier counties with high levels of vulnerability and high levels of preventive care access). 
  • Investigators: Dr. Luciana Shaddox (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Rick Ingram (UK College of Dentistry/UK College of Public Health), Courtney Brown (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Greg Hawk (Statistics)
• Reducing Oral Cancer and Increasing HPV Vaccine Uptake: A Community Engaged Approach to Formative Data Insight and Strategic Campaign Design in Appalachian Kentucky: The goal of this study is to design and implement a strategic communication plan for dental providers to recommend HPV vaccines based on knowledge gained from focus groups and interviews of community members to decrease hesitancy and increase uptake of HPV vaccination in Appalachian Kentucky counties. Dr. Pamela Stein (UK College of Dentistry/UK College of Public Health), Courtney Brown (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Luciana Shaddox (UK College of Dentistry), Dr Kimberly Parker (UK College of Communication and Information), Dr. Bobi Ivanov (Communications UF), Dr Don Helme (UK College of Communication and Information).
• The 2023 Kentucky Early Learner's Oral Health Survey evaluated the prevalence of dental decay and treatment needs among Kentucky Children ages 205 and to identify what populations are most at risk for dental decay. Read the Executive Summary. Investigators: Dr. Pamela Stein (UK College of Dentistry/UK College of Public Health), Courtney Brown (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Luciana Shaddox (UK College of Dentistry), Dr Reuben Adatorwovor (UK College of Public Health)
• A randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an HPV vaccination recommendation delivered by dental providers versus no dental provider HPV vaccine recommendation in increasing HPV vaccination rates among 10–26-year-olds receiving care at Federally Qualified Health Centers in Kentucky: The purpose of this study was to provide dental providers who care for pediatric patients with a brief educational intervention about Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) associated oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) and determine if this education increased the provider’s knowledge. An additional goal was to identify what the providers found as barriers and facilitators for making effective HPV vaccine recommendations to parents of pediatric patients. Investigators: Dr. Pamela Stein (UK College of Dentistry/UK College of Public Health), Courtney Brown (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Luciana Shaddox (UK College of Dentistry), Dr Reuben Adatorwovor (UK College of Public Health)
• Minimizing Risks from COVID-19 in Dental Practices: This study aims to develop a web-based guidebook to strengthen the ability of Kentucky’s safety-net dental practices to provide safe oral healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and future health crises. Investigators: Dr. Kevin Pearce (UK College of Medicine), Dr. Daria Stone (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Rick Ingram (UK College of Dentistry/UK College of Public Health) & Dr. Corrine Williams (UK College of Public Health)
• Dental Home Entryway During a Pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted access to routine and emergency dental care all over the world. The objective of this study was to evaluate how the pandemic has affected dental care in an academic setting in the U.S. Investigators: Dr. Susan Bishop (UK College of Dentistry), Ralph Catalano, Malini Kirakodu (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Wes Coffman (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Craig Miller (UK College of Dentistry) & Dr. Luciana Shaddox (UK College of Dentistry)

• Differential analysis of inflammatory mediators between African American and Caucasians: The aim of this study is to determine if there is a difference in inflammatory chemo/cytokine mediators in the gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) and a different inflammatory response to bacterial LPS in Caucasians compared to African Americans. Investigators: Dr. Rubelisa C. G. Oliveira (UK College of Dentistry), Sree Kirakodu (UK College of Dentistry), Dr. Jussara Goncalves Fernandes (UK College of Dentistry) & Dr. Luciana Shaddox (UK College of Dentistry)

   

• Do you have an idea for a research or other collaborative project? Submit your idea via our KOHII form here.
• Send an email to KOHII.
• Subscribe to the KOHII e-newsletter here.

• UK College of Dentistry, Center for Oral Health Research (COHR)
• UK College of Medicine

• UK College of Public Health