Dental Care Coordinator

Community Health Care•Millville, NJ

About The Position

The Oral Health and Dental Care Coordinator facilitates access to comprehensive, patient-centered preventive oral healthcare and coordinates dental services for pediatric and adult patients. The role focuses on identifying, addressing, and closing oral health care gaps while integrating oral healthcare into comprehensive primary care. The coordinator works with dental providers, hygienists, dental assistants, pediatric and adult primary care teams, behavioral health professionals, population health staff, and community partners. The position supports timely access to routine dental examinations, cleanings, fluoride varnish applications, and other age-appropriate oral health interventions. It also supports organizational performance on applicable HRSA Uniform Data System (UDS), payer-specific, and other oral health quality measures through proactive outreach, care-gap identification, appointment coordination, referral management, patient education, and systematic follow-up. The coordinator helps reduce barriers to dental services and promote improved oral health outcomes across the lifespan.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED.
General understanding of preventive oral healthcare, dental terminology, and common dental services.
Knowledge of patient navigation, referral coordination, and preventive healthcare practices.
Ability to identify service gaps and coordinate appropriate follow-up.
Strong organizational, time management, and attention-to-detail skills.
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Ability to collaborate with dental, medical, behavioral health, and administrative teams.
Proficiency in electronic documentation and Microsoft Office applications.
Ability to interpret basic care-gap reports, quality dashboards, and patient tracking information.
Understanding of cultural, socioeconomic, and linguistic barriers affecting access to oral healthcare.
Professionalism, compassion, accountability, and commitment to patient-centered care.
Ability to manage multiple patient follow-up activities while maintaining accurate documentation and confidentiality.

Nice To Haves

Completion of a recognized Dental Assistant or Medical Assistant training program.
Associate degree in healthcare, dental health, public health, human services, or a related field.
Dental Assistant, Medical Assistant, Community Health Worker, or comparable certification.
At least two years of experience in dental healthcare, medical office operations, patient navigation, care coordination, or a comparable healthcare support position.
Experience in a dental practice, Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), primary care organization, or community health setting.
Experience in dental appointment scheduling, patient outreach, referral coordination, or preventive health initiatives.
Experience with electronic health records, dental practice management systems, or patient tracking applications.
Familiarity with oral health quality measures, UDS reporting, or population health principles.

Responsibilities

Identify pediatric and adult patients with outstanding preventive dental needs using EHRs, population health registries, referral tracking systems, and quality reporting tools.
Work with dental and primary care teams to implement targeted interventions for identified oral health care gaps.
Conduct proactive outreach to patients, parents, caregivers, and legal guardians to facilitate recommended dental services.
Identify patients overdue for routine dental examinations, cleanings, or other recommended preventive oral health services, and prioritize outreach according to care needs, provider-identified risk, overdue services, and quality improvement priorities.
Support timely access to dental evaluations, preventive services, and follow-up care; monitor missed appointments, incomplete appointments, outstanding referrals, and unresolved care needs.
Identify and help address barriers to dental care, including transportation, insurance coverage, appointment availability, language, health literacy, and social determinants of health.
Coordinate pediatric dental examinations, cleanings, referrals, and follow-up; identify children without a dental home or who are overdue for preventive services.
Support early childhood oral health initiatives, coordinate fluoride varnish applications when clinically indicated and provided by qualified personnel, and educate caregivers about early childhood oral health.
Collaborate with pediatric care teams to identify children needing specialized dental services or additional navigation support, and track pediatric referrals through completion.
Coordinate adult dental appointments and follow-up, including preventive services and care for patients with chronic conditions, pregnant patients, older adults, and people with complex healthcare needs.
Facilitate referrals and follow-up for specialty dental care when ordered by a dental provider, and help patients navigate dental benefits, coverage limitations, and community resources.
Serve as a coordination resource between medical and dental teams; facilitate communication, referrals, authorized clinical documentation, and inclusion of oral health needs in population health workflows.
Participate in interdisciplinary case discussions, team huddles, and care coordination meetings, and escalate urgent oral health concerns or clinical risks to an appropriate licensed dental or medical professional.
Support organizational performance on applicable HRSA UDS oral health measures and payer-specific dental quality indicators by using registries, dashboards, and reports to identify unmet needs and coordinate outreach.
Collaborate with Quality and Population Health staff to validate documented services, reconcile care gaps, track targets, and participate in quality improvement activities such as workflow assessments and Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles.
Coordinate internal and external dental referrals from initiation through scheduling, completion, and outcome communication; follow up on missed appointments and incomplete care.
Work with community dental providers and external organizations when services are not available internally, document referral outcomes and barriers, and support transitions between pediatric and adult dental services.
Build respectful relationships with patients and caregivers; provide approved, culturally and linguistically appropriate oral health education and reinforce the importance of preventive care and a dental home.
Use patient-centered communication and motivational interviewing techniques within the role's scope, assist with appointment and resource navigation, and respect patient preferences and shared decision-making with licensed professionals.
Document outreach, appointment coordination, referrals, care-gap interventions, and follow-up accurately and promptly in designated systems.
Maintain tracking records for assigned patients, unresolved care gaps, missed appointments, and pending referrals; communicate barriers and coordination needs to care teams and provide routine updates to Population Health leadership.
Participate in dental team meetings, quality improvement discussions, and organizational training; maintain confidentiality and comply with HIPAA, organizational policies, and applicable privacy standards.
Perform other related duties as assigned.