Center for Health Promotion rings in one year of services

The Center for Health Promotion celebrated the first anniversary of services in a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on the first-floor clinic at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry.

More commonly referred to as the CHP, the center is the newest clinic housed in the School of Dentistry and offers a patient-centered, comprehensive approach to oral care that began services last January. A first-of-its-kind clinic, the CHP is a hub where dentistry, medicine, and behavioral health come together to prevent disease and promote the oral and overall health of patients.

Despite opening last year, the first anniversary signifies a pivotal moment in pioneering a new approach to care that weaves Integrated Dental Medicine into predoctoral (preclinical and clinical) curricula and patient care workflows.

“We have worked in collaborative teams to restructure our approach to patient care,” said Director of Health Promotion Tulsi Patel, RDH, MHA. “Our institution is well-known for treating oral disease, but it was time for us to make a shift in our clinical model to also address the growing health needs of our population, and I think we’ve been able to do that by making prevention and health promotion a priority in our approach to care.”

Over the past year, the CHP’s clinical model and preclinical curriculum have significantly been enhanced. The center has created clinical workflows and electronic record forms, focusing on risk assessments for various health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea, while also providing counseling services in the realms of nutrition, tobacco cessation, and HPV immunization.

“Our patients have higher rates of chronic and dental diseases,” said Ana Neumann, DDS, MPH, PhD, professor and director of dental public health. “This persistent trend called for a new approach — one that required a dedicated space, time, and excellent infrastructure built within the very busy dental curriculum.”

In addition to the enhanced models, the CHP has also implemented teledentistry services and integrated two nurse practitioners into the growing team of professionals to provide high-quality care to its patients.

Some of the plans for the near future involve launching genetics counseling to support pediatric patients and offer referral pathways for comprehensive care.  

“This clinical center represents an exciting and transformative step forward in dental education and patient care,” said Shalizeh Patel, DDS, MEd, professor and associate dean for patient care. “This center will have a profound and lasting impact on how we teach, how we practice, and how we care for our patients. It’s a journey, but one that will ultimately elevate our entire approach to dentistry.”

Every new patient accepted for comprehensive care at the predoctoral level undergoes an initial evaluation at the CHP, as part of the diagnosis and risk assessment phase of the comprehensive care process. This early step enables student providers to collect detailed and relevant clinical information, which is essential for formulating a personalized and thorough treatment plan.

Once patients begin treatment, they have scheduled periodic visits in the CHP where risk factors are addressed, patient education is provided, and goals for behavioral and lifestyle changes are discussed to work towards improved oral and overall health outcomes.

“It’s certainly been one of the most evident expressions of our vision statement of ‘Improving oral health, improving overall health,’” said Dean John A. Valenza, DDS. “It’s one thing to have an idea and talk about it, but it’s an entirely different thing to make it happen.”

The CHP currently operates Monday through Friday, both morning and afternoon, with the exception of Friday mornings.