Refer and Report

Treat injuries within the expertise and scope of your office and refer to other healthcare providers for other injuries.

Provide patients with options and resources for next steps, including referrals to domestic abuse advocacy organizations. Consider keeping small, easy-to-conceal cards or other resource materials readily available for patients, containing information on local resources. Even having these resources available in privately accessible areas like restrooms is helpful, especially if the victim is not ready to disclose to you.²⁸

Developing relationships with local domestic abuse programs can help dental office professionals make the referral process even more effective and provide them with ongoing training. Document the referral information given to the patient and file mandatory reports if needed. Schedule a follow-up visit.²³

Resources for Victims

Of particular note, do not force referral information onto a victim because it can be a potentially dangerous situation if the abuser finds it. Your patient will know what is best for them! Some victims are adept at concealing something small, such as a card in the sole of a shoe. Assure the victim that you have resources available to them if they ever do want it.

There are various hotlines a victim can call and get local information as well as dental resources that will help alleviate the cost of comprehensive dental care resulting from the violence. Here are some resources:

Hotlines (most are open 24/7):

• National Hotline on Domestic Violence: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or www.thehotline.org. Advocates are available by telephone in over 140 different languages and by chat or texts in English and Spanish.

• Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network’s National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or text HOPE to 64673

• Love is Respect national Teen Dating Abuse Helpline: 1-866-331-9474

• Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988. Support is 24/7 in English and Spanish

Websites:

• Rain.org (provides individual chats with a trained support specialist)

• https://www.thehotline.org/get-help/directory-of-local-providers/ This provides an area where you can search for resources in the zip code as well as what services are needed

• To help find a health center that is low-cost and/or sliding scale for fees: https//findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov

Dental Resources:

• Give Back a Smile Program: givebackasmile.com

• Dental Lifeline Network: dentallifeline.org

• Smiles for Success: smilesforsuccess.org