California Northstate University (CNU) has a Dental Hygiene Board of California (DHBC) approved RDHAP Education Program that satisfies the education requirements for the Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice (RDHAP) license in California. Dr. Paul Glassman, founder of the RDHAP Program at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry, is the Program Director of this program. Dr Glassman has 18 years of experience in directing, teaching, and managing an RDHAP Education Program.
This system is called the Virtual Dental Home (VDH) because it provides all the essential ingredients of a “health home”, but does so using geographically distributed, telehealth-connected teams. As distinct from “dental home” systems that regard the dental office as the “home”, this model reaches people who do not regularly visit dental offices by bringing services to them. The VDH system emphasizes prevention and early intervention services in community settings, while linking to and expanding the involvement of dental offices and clinics.
The Virtual Dental Home (VDH) is a community-based oral health delivery system in which people receive preventive and early intervention therapeutic services in community settings. It utilizes telehealth technology to link allied dental personnel in the community with dentists in dental offices and clinics. A six-year demonstration of this system indicated that registered dental hygienists in alternative practice (RDHAP), dental hygienists working in public health programs (RDH) and registered dental assistants (RDA), working in telehealth-connected teams, can keep most people healthy in community settings by providing education, triage, case management, preventive procedures, and Interim Therapeutic Restorations (ITR). When more complex dental treatment is needed, the Virtual Dental Home connects patients with dentists in the area. This system promotes expansion of dental practices and linkages between dentists in dental offices and these community-based allied dental personnel. Most importantly, it brings much-needed services to individuals who might otherwise receive no care.
On March 4, 2020 a state of emergency was declared in California due to the COVID-19 outbreak. On March 19, 2020 an executive order was signed by the governor for all Californians to stay at home except for essential workers and to purchase basic needs. School districts began closing schools prior to the executive order, which meant that all Virtual Dental Home activities were halted.
In anticipation of a gradual school resumption of in-person learning, and the need for revised safety protocols for VDH teams, CNU staff have worked with VDH teams and compiled resources to develop guidance to assist them in re-starting their VDH activities. The Guidance document and a sample flier can be found here:
Listed below are a number of reports and publications about the VDH system:
Paul Glassman DDS, MA, MBA
Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Community Engagement
RDHAP Education Program Director
CNU College of Dental Medicine
9700 West Taron Drive, Elk Grove, CA 95757
Paul.Glassman@cnsu.edu
Valerie Phillips, RDH, MS
Director, Office of Research and Community Engagement
CNU College of Dental Medicine
Valerie.Phillips@cnsu.edu