Supporting Healthy Pregnancies – Oral Health & Collaborative Care

This two-part webinar series is designed to equip health center care teams with the knowledge, strategies, and tools to integrate oral health into prenatal care. As the connection between oral health and pregnancy outcomes becomes increasingly clear, it’s essential for dental and medical professionals to work collaboratively in providing safe, accessible, and effective care for pregnant individuals.

This series highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, explores the systems and structures needed to deliver integrated care, and provides practical resources to support implementation across clinical settings.

Continuing Dental Education (CDE) credits and North Dakota Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) credits will be available. This series is highly relevant for nurses, medical and dental providers, dental assistants, medical assistants, and all essential health center care team members working to deliver comprehensive prenatal care.

Session 1:
Obstetric Risk Management for Oral Health and Medical Professionals 
June 11, 2025

This session focused on the clinical importance of oral health care during pregnancy and the role of oral health professionals in supporting maternal health. Attendees learned about best practices for providing oral health care to pregnant individuals, including pharmacological considerations and safety guidelines. The session highlighted the benefits of integrated care models and collaboration between oral health and obstetric providers.

Session 2:
Integrating Oral Health Care into Prenatal Care: Why It Matters & What It Takes
June 18, 2025

This virtual session focused on why integrating oral health care into prenatal care visits is an essential strategy for improving access to oral health care for pregnant women, particularly those who experience challenges accessing the traditional oral health care system. Promising practices and common challenges in integrating oral health care into prenatal care visits were described. The National Network for Oral Health Access’s five systems for integrating oral health care and primary care were shared, including information about gathering data for continuous quality improvement. Finally, resources from the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center and other organizations about oral health and primary care integration were shared.