PurPose Identification of common dental health terminology along with plain language definitions that can be used in member communication.

Challenge Terms should be useful to consumers of dental services, as well as to those who interact with consumers, including dentists, hygienists and those who develop materials.

Future DeveloPment Definitions will evolve and our efforts will improve based on feedback from consumers, those who communicate with them and organizations.

Development of a Plain language Dental health glossary

Step 2: Developed plain language definitions based on principles of health literacy.

Step 3: Confirmed or revised selections through an environmental scan.

Step 4: Made revisions based on feedback to improve ease of understanding

Step 5: Sent terms to the Just Plain ClearTM Editorial Work Group for to review comprehension and consistency.

Identified Top Terms

1 2 3 4 5Created SimpleDefinitions

Scanned theEnvironment

MadeRevisions

Shared Terms with Work Group

Step 1: Identified 100–150 of the most commonly used or misunderstood terms.

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There are few sources where the public and health communicators can find plain language definitions of insurance, health care and dental health terms. For consumers to be to engaged in their care and have better health outcomes, communications need to be simple, accessible, understandable and actionable. UnitedHealth Group created the Just Plain ClearTM English-Spanish Glossary that contains over 2,000 terms and is available online.

authors Michael D Weitzner D.M.D., M.S. Steven R. Rush M.A., L.P. Xing Zhu B.S.

1. CDT 2011-2012: Current Dental Terminology : The ADA Practical Guide to Dental Procedure Codes. |[Chicago, Ill.]: American Dental Association, 2010. Print.

2. Mestman, Sadie S., and Ariella D. Herman. What to Do for Healthy Teeth: Easy to Read, Easy to Use. La Habra, CA: Institute for Healthcare Advancement, 2004. Print.

3. “Health Literacy in Dentistry Action Plan 2010-2015.” WWW.ADA.ORG. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 June 2012.

4. <http://www.ada.org/sections/professionalResources/pdfs/topics_access_health_literacy_dentistry.pdf>.5. “Plain Language: Improving Communications from the Federal Government to the Public.” Plain Language:

Improving Communications from the Federal Government to the Public. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July 2012. <http://www.plainlanguage.gov/index.cfm>.

6. United Healthcare JPC Glossary. N.p., n.d. Web. June-July 2012. <http://wiki.ingenix.com/display/HLC/home>.

Acknowledgements