2023 Catalog: General Courses

IHS Dental Updates is the premier dental conference of the Indian Health Service Division of Oral Health. Offered biennially, this conference is specifically designed for IHS and tribal dentists, dental hygienists, dental health aide therapists, and dental assistants. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 conference was held virtually via Zoom, and was open only to dental staff working currently in IHS, tribal, and urban dental programs.

The conference was held over three days from Tuesday, April 13, 2021 to Thursday, April 15, 2021. Each day will begin at 10:00 a.m. CENTRAL TIME [7:00 Alaska, 8:00 Pacific, 9:00 Mountain, and 11:00 Eastern] and commenced with two hours of general/plenary sessions designed to attract the entire dental team. After a one-hour break, the live conference resumed with an additional 3-4 hours of sessions specifically designed for dentists and dental health aide therapists [1st day], dental hygienists [2nd day], and dental assistants [3rd day], but each of these sessions could be attended by any dental staff.

The theme of this year’s conference was “The Future of Oral Health,” and many of the topics looked at issues at the forefront of dentistry: the integration of oral health and primary care, the effects of COVID-19 on oral health, new guidelines on infection control from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more.

Learning objectives for each session will be published in the conference program. Overall learning objectives are as follows:

1. Describe special infection control precautions that the CDC recommends for dental settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. List and explain three initiatives provided by the IHS Division of Oral Health or the Clinical and Preventive Support Centers over the past year.
3. Compare and contrast the different types of tele-dentistry, and demonstrate opportunities to use each in your program in the future.

It is the policy of the Indian Health Service, Division of Oral Health, that faculty/planners disclose any financial or other relationships with commercial companies whose products may be discussed in the educational activity. The Indian Health Service, Division of Oral Health, also requires that faculty disclose any unlabeled or investigative use of pharmaceutical products and medical devices. Images that have been falsified or manipulated to misrepresent treatment outcomes are prohibited.

None of the faculty/planners for this activity has a conflict of interest, and there is no use of unlabeled or investigative pharmaceutical products or medical devices. No images have been falsified or manipulated to misrepresent treatment outcomes.The educational objectives, content, and selection of educational methods and instructors are conducted independent of any commercial entity.

The IHS Division of Oral Health is an accredited sponsor of continuing education under the American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program (CERP). ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Concerns or complaints about a CE provider may be directed to the IHS at IHS CDE Coordinator or to the Commission for Continuing Education Provider Recognition at CCEPR.ada.org

Participants must be dental staff of IHS, tribal, or IHS-funded urban dental programs; spouses, pets, and other family members are not allowed to attend sessions. Registration is only available online through the IHS CDE Portal [must have CDE account to register].

TUITION: No tuition is associated with this virtual conference. All current IHS, tribal, and urban dental staff may attend at no tuition cost.

Tuition must be paid in full 8 weeks prior to the start date of any course. Request for refunds must be received in writing at least two weeks before the course begins. For each refund request, there will be an administrative charge of $100. No refunds will be made to registrants who fail to attend a course. If IHS CDE program cancels a course, then 100% of the tuition will be refunded.