School Screening Program

Kansas School Oral Health Screening Initiative

Vision

Better Oral Health for All Kansas Children

Screening Program

The Bureau of Oral Health has implemented a statewide oral health screening program to satisfy The Kansas State Statute for Annual Dental Inspection (K.S.A. 72-6251).

Dentists and dental hygienists in Kansas are providing dental screenings in their own local communities with school nurses sending the results home to parents and guardians. Over a hundred thousand children from pre-K to Grade 12, are being screened annually across Kansas. School nurses send the aggregated data to the Bureau of Oral Health and it is included in our annual reports. School nurses express much appreciation and are thrilled the children are being screened; parents are informed of obvious dental concerns, and children are referred to dental professionals for obvious care needed.

Get Involved

If you are a dentist or dental hygienist and would like to volunteer to screen a local school, email the Bureau of Oral Health

If you are a school and would like to participate in school oral health screenings, please email the Bureau of Oral Health

Notifications

Notification of the dental screening can be done in a number of ways. Here are a few examples but it is not all-inclusive:

  • The form can be sent home to each student 
  • Email blast can be done notifying parent/guardian attaching the form
  • An announcement can be made on your school district or school website stating the dental screenings will be conducted in compliance with Kansas State Statute 72-6251. Please contact your school nurse if you wish to have your child opt-out of the screening.
  • Can be present in your student handbook that is available to all parents stating that during the school year Hearing, Vision, and Dental screenings will be conducted. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your school nurse.

Screening Report Data

The data collected was from a convenience sample (not randomized). This may not be representative of the overall population.

Dr Johnson With Patient
School Screening Being Performed on Patient
  1. School Screening Forms
  2. Related Documents
  3. Maps