Improving Oral Health and Oral Health Care for Adults with IDD in New Jersey

This project aims to implement key elements of the statewide Oral Health Plan that NCCP developed for the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) in 2020. The plan identifies barriers to high quality oral healthcare among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in New Jersey.

The project’s overarching goal is to reduce barriers to oral health care for adults with IDD in New Jersey. Oral health care, which is critical to overall health and well-being, is the primary unmet health need among adults with IDD.  

Key project activities include working with New Jersey’s Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services’  and convening key stakeholders to address barriers to oral health care. The high-impact elements of the plan include encouraging more special needs dentists to become Medicaid providers, care management for oral health care, and improvements to the transition from pediatric to general dentistry for adults with IDD. 

This project is supported by the WITH Foundation.  

Project Staff 

  • Heather Koball, PhD, Co-Director 
  • Suma Setty, MPH, Senior Research Associate 
  • Chelsea Fosse, DMD, MPH, Senior Health Policy Analyst at Health Policy Institute at the American Dental Association 

Contact 

Heather Koball
Koball@nccp.org