• Moshtagh R Farokhi, Andrew Muck, Juanita Lozano-Pineda, Stephanie L Boone, and Heidi Worabo.
• Moshtagh R. Farokhi, DDS, MPH, MAGD, FADI, is Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, School of Dentistry, UT Health San Antonio, and Dental Director, San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic; Andrew Muck, MD, is Associate Professor, Program Director, and Vice Chair of Education, Department of Emergency Medicine and Faculty at the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics, School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio; Juanita Lozano-Pineda, DDS, MPH, is Associate Professor, Associate Dean for External Affairs, and Director of Predoctoral Dental Outreach Programs, School of Dentistry, UT Health San Antonio; Stephanie L. Boone, PhD, is Director of Statistical Consulting, Analytic Focus, LLC, San Antonio, TX; and Heidi Worabo, DNP, RN, FNP-BC, is Clinical Assistant Professor, Office of Faculty Affairs and Diversity, School of Nursing, UT Health San Antonio, and Assistant Director, San Antonio Refugee Health Clinic. farokhi@uthscsa.edu.
• J Dent Educ. 2018 Oct 1; 82 (10): 1091-1097.

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess the oral health literacy knowledge gained by patients who are refugees, community members, and medical and nursing students after participating in an interprofessional education collaborative of students and faculty from the University of Texas Health San Antonio Schools of Dentistry, Medicine, and Nursing. In this faculty-student collaborative practice, all patients were triaged (including oral hygiene status and alcohol/tobacco use), and tailored treatment options were offered following assessment of their dental, medical, and social histories. The study was designed as a pre-post assessment of an educational intervention on oral health literacy. In the pretest, all groups were invited to respond to questionnaires assessing their knowledge of oral health. After participants engaged in oral hygiene instruction demonstrations and received information about an oral health literacy campaign, a posttest was conducted to assess knowledge gained. A total of 151 patients who were refugees, 38 medical students, 34 nursing students, and 17 community/parish members voluntarily participated in this initiative. Each group had a significant increase in mean oral health literacy score from pre- to posttest: patients 33.5%, community/parish members 22.3%, nursing students 20.8%, and medical students 13% (all p<0.0001). These results showed that the oral health literacy initiative helped increase all participants' oral health literacy and knowledge of preventive care.

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