In this Complex Care Journal Club podcast episode, Dr. Robbie Dembo and Ms. Kate Honsberger discuss a mixed methods study of oral health experiences and disparities among children with special health care needs. They describe oral health problems faced by children with medical complexity, barriers to high-quality dental care reported by family caregivers, and strategies for disseminating findings from their study.

SPEAKERS
Robbie Dembo, PhD
Senior Research Scientist
Principal Investigator
National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
University of Chicago

Kate Honsberger, BA
Director, Health Care Programs 
National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
University of Chicago

HOST
Kristina Malik, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics,
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Medical Director, KidStreet
Pediatrician, Special Care Clinic,
Children's Hospital Colorado

DATE
Initial publication date: August 11, 2025.

JOURNAL CLUB ARTICLE
NORC at the University of Chicago. Oral Health Among Children with Special Health Care Needs. Accessed August 4, 2025. https://www.norc.org/research/projects/oral-health-children-special-health-care-needs.html

OTHER ARTICLES REFERENCED
Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. Shared care planning for children with special health care needs.  Accessed August 4, 2025. https://www.cahmi.org/our-work-in-action/engagement-in-action/cshcn

Cohen E, Kuo DZ, Agrawal R, Berry JG, Bhagat SK, Simon TD, Srivastava R. Children with medical complexity: an emerging population for clinical and research initiatives. Pediatrics. 2011 Mar;127(3):529-38. doi: 10.1542/peds.2010-0910. Epub 2011 Feb 21. PMID: 21339266; PMCID: PMC3387912.

Yu JA, McKernan G, Hagerman T, Schenker Y, Houtrow A. Identifying children with medical complexity from the National Survey of Children’s Health combined 2016–17 data set. Hospital Pediatrics. 2021;11(2):192- 197. doi:10.1542/hpeds.2020-0180

TRANSCRIPT
https://cdn.bfldr.com/D6LGWP8S/as/9767nfr2rj79c2hft2cc3g8/Dembo_and_Hornsberget_final_8-7-25‌

Clinicians across healthcare professions, advocates, researchers, and patients/families are all encouraged to engage and provide feedback! You can recommend an article for discussion using this form: https://forms.gle/Bdxb86Sw5qq1uFhW6.

Please visit: http://www.openpediatrics.org OPENPediatrics™ is an interactive digital learning platform for healthcare clinicians sponsored by Boston Children’s Hospital and in collaboration with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies. It is designed to promote the exchange of knowledge between healthcare providers around the world caring for critically ill children in all resource settings. The content includes internationally recognized experts teaching the full range of topics on the care of critically ill children. All content is peer-reviewed and open-access thus at no expense to the user. For further information on how to enroll, please email: openpediatrics@childrens.harvard.edu

CITATION
Dembo R, Honsberger K, Malik K. Brushing Up on High-Quality Oral Health Care for Children with Medical Complexity. 08/2025. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/brushing-up-on-high-quality.