Bio:

Dr. Mattheus's research focuses on improving oral health outcomes for women and children. She is currently working on research in order to provide further evidence supporting the link between maternal oral health experiences and perinatal outcomes. As a nurse practitioner and researcher Dr. Mattheus's has documented both the immediate and long term effects of poor oral health for vulnerable populations as well as the social and economic impact associated with this preventable condition. Her community-based experiences have included the development of oral health promotion programs in two large rural pediatric clinics in the State of Florida and the development and implementation of oral health promotion programs for pregnant women, mothers and children currently being services within WIC clinics in the State of Hawaii.

Additional areas of research includes secondhand smoke exposure and the development of caries, identification of ethnic and cultural factors that effect oral health outcomes for families, benefits of school-based dental sealant programs, COVID vaccine intentions of nursing students and health care workers, in addition to pediatric nurse practitioner and nurses knowledge beliefs and behaviors associated with oral health promotion in primary care practice.

Dr. Mattheus currently teaches in the graduate nursing program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is the primary faculty instructor for the pediatrics acute and chronic care APRN/DNP classes.

Dr. Mattheus has received funding to support her efforts in implementing oral health promotion in primary care practice. She has also received funding from the Department of Health to assess the oral health needs of women utilizing WIC services and recently was funded by the Hawaii Dental Service to expand their oral health promotion program for women and children into additional WIC sites in Hawaii. She is the PI on the HRSA Dental Hygiene Workforce grant which provided funding of 1.5 million dollars over 5 years to improve the oral health care and services to children 0-5 years of age. She also is the Director of the Hawaii Keiki (HK) Dental Sealant Program which is a partnership between HK and the Hawaii Department of Education. This program is funded by the Hawaii Dental Services since 2019.

Dr. Mattheus serves as the Senior Practice Director for the Hawaii Keiki Program which is a school-based health program which partners with the Department of Education to provide RN and APRN service in school clinics as well as services through a hotline/telehealth platform. Dr. Mattheus is a member of Hawaii and National AAP, Sigma Theta Tau Gamma Psi Chapter and Oahu Medical Corp. Dr. Mattheus is also actively involved in supporting the Hawaii Oral Health Coalition and lead the access and prevention committee. Recently, she was chosen as the 100 Million Mouth Champion for the State of Hawaii by the Center for Integration of Primary Care Oral Health and is actively working with academic institutions in Hawaii to further integrate oral health into the curricula of medical and nursing programs.

Education:
1985 Bachelor of Science in Nursing, American International College, Springfield, MA
1990 Master of Science in Nursing, Simmons college, Boston, MA
2013 Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing, University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI