At a glance
The Synopses contain information regarding workforce, programs, policies, and administrative factors related to oral health programs in states and other jurisdictions. A subset of the information is provided on Oral Health Data.
History
In 1994, the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) originated the annual Synopses of Dental Programs as a way to share information among dental directors and partners. The Synopses described program activities, successes, and challenges that programs faced during the previous year. In 1997, ASTDD changed the format to a more structured questionnaire. The questionnaire has continued to evolve over the years.
How information is collected
Methods
Annually, in January, the Synopses questionnaire is sent by e-mail to the directors of dental programs in states and other jurisdictions. Respondents are asked to provide the data for the most recently completed fiscal year.
Limitations
Trends
Use caution in drawing conclusions about trends and fluctuations using these data. Not all directors participate every year and there may be missing data for some questions. Absence of data for a particular year may or may not indicate the absence of a program for that year. In some cases, dental directors provide point-in-time data rather than annual data. States do not all have the same fiscal year and availability of data at the time of the survey may differ across states.
Data comparability
Data from federal agencies or other sources may not be directly comparable with data from the Synopses. Variations in program content across jurisdictions and eligibility requirements also limit the comparability of data.
Data use
Complete data sets and permission to use these data should be requested directly from the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors.