O2122: Synergizing Shots and Smiles: Developing a toolkit to advocate for human papillomavirus vaccination during dental visits.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes over 37,000 cancers annually in the United States. Despite the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine, vaccination rates among Black and American Indian adolescents in Colorado remain significantly below state and national goals. Since adolescents often visit dental providers more frequently than medical providers, integrating HPV vaccination into dental settings—especially in Federally Qualified Health Centers—presents a novel, equity-focused strategy to improve vaccination rates and prevent HPV-related cancers.

Methods: This project leverages medical-dental integration to address vaccination disparities by developing and implementing a comprehensive HPV vaccination toolkit for dental practices across Colorado. The toolkit will include provider training on vaccine counseling and hesitancy, patient education materials (Fig 1, Fig 2), guidance on vaccine storage and billing, and resources for interfacing with the Colorado Immunization Information System. A community advisory panel of caregivers and adolescents, alongside a dental advisory panel, will ensure the toolkit is culturally relevant and practical. The patient education materials will be translated into the 7 most commonly spoken languages in Colorado. The program will initially target 10 geographically diverse dental practices, focusing on underserved populations with the goal of being used across the state. Using the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment (EPIS) framework, success will be defined by 80% of practices implementing the toolkit and achieving at least a 50% HPV vaccination rate among eligible patients.

Results: Innovative and evidence-based, this project builds upon a successful MDI pilot that resulted in
an 8.6% increase in HPV vaccination rates among over 2,000 adolescents. The
program is timely, as Colorado’s 2025 legislation will expand dental clinicians’ scope to include
vaccine administration. By meeting the affected community where they are—in dental offices
and addressing cultural and systemic barriers through inclusive advisory panels and multilingual patient education, this project directly tackles health disparities. Partnerships with the Alliance for HPV Free Colorado, The Public Health Institute at Denver Health, The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and Immunize Colorado, will ensure robust implementation and sustainability.

Conclusion: This project will advance health equity by expanding access to HPV vaccinations for Colorado’s underserved populations. By transforming dental clinics into vaccination access points, the project will reduce racial and geographic disparities in HPV-related cancer prevention. The inclusive and collaborative model—rooted in community engagement and guided by real-time feedback—has the potential to be scaled statewide and serve as a national model for vaccine delivery innovation.