- Watch Your Mouth Massachusetts: The Watch Your Mouth Coalition Is Working In Massachusetts, New Hampshire And Maine To Make Children's Oral Health A Priority. Objectives of the Watch Your Mouth Coalition are to Educate the public that tooth decay is the most common childhood disease that can cause diminished school performance and poor overall health. WYM advocates for wider access to preventive services, such as dental sealants and fluoride, and regular dental exams for all children.
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Newsletter
Vol. 3, issue 6
June 2008
Upcoming Events
- June 4 & 5, 2008-- Better Oral Health For Massachusetts Conference (Sturbridge, MA)
- June 12, 2008-- MPHA presents "The High Cost of Healthy Food: What We Can do About it" (Waltham, MA)
- June 24, 2008-- Health Law Advocates Law and Policy Forum Brown Bag Series (Boston, MA)
- Save the Date: October 10, 2008-- American Academy of Pediatrics in the 21st Century (Peds21) Summit
Happy June! School is out, summer is near, and the Watch Your Mouth campaign kicks off the month by attending the first ever "Better Oral Health for Massachusetts" summit, a two day conference to develop a statewide plan to improve oral health status in the Commonwealth. Please join us on June 4th and 5th in Sturbridge!
In this issue, we call attention to the American Association for Cancer Research's recent findings associating dental disease and cancer; share the tips and techniques to use bridging to reframe any conversation effectively; spread the word on a job opportunity with Watch Your Mouth; and feature our June partner spotlight: Health Law Advocates. Don't forget to scan the left column for upcoming events and resources.
Join us on June 4th & 5th for the "Better Oral Health for Massachusetts" Summit
The Better Oral Health of Massachusetts Coalition is hosting a summit as the first step toward developing a statewide agenda to address oral health disparities. The summit is June 4th and 5th at the Sturbridge Host Hotel and Convention Center in Sturbridge MA.
The Oral Health Summit begins a dialogue to formalize an oral health plan and specific activities that promote oral health, prevent disease and ultimately close gaps in care. Summit sessions include best practices in community-based programs and strategies for developing a successful overall oral health plan.
The Summit follows the January 2008 release of Delta Dental's report "The Oral Health of Massachusetts Children," which found that more than one four children are starting school with dental disease. This report also provides evidence that dental disease remains a serious problem for our children, even though dental disease is almost entirely preventable.
The summit's major sponsors include, the Oral Health Foundation, Partners for a Healthier Community, Delta Dental of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Dental Society, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists Association.
Register for the Better Oral Health for Massachusetts Summit
"The Neck Bone is Connected to Your Head Bone..."
Oral Health and its Connection to Overall Health
Do you recognize the catchy lyrics of a familiar childhood song? It references how each part of our body is truly connected as one entity. This connection also holds true for the mouth and to the rest of the body. In 2000, the U.S. Surgeon General's report references the mouth as the gateway to the rest of the body. Infections in the mouth are early warning signs of other health problems that may be happening in the body. Decades of research suggest that dental disease increases the risk for many chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and premature birth. Recently, Japanese scientists added a new chronic condition to the list: Cancer. According to the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), scientists have discovered that people with tooth loss (resulting from prolonged exposure to dental decay) had increased risk for esophageal, head and neck, and lung cancer. Click here to read AACR's press release of this study.
As children continue to sing "the neck bone is connected to your head bone," our community of pediatricians, school nurses, advocates and citizens also need to be humming to the same tune by working with our schools to bring preventive care and dental screenings outside the dental office. The Watch Your Mouth campaign, a statewide network of adults working to increase children's access to oral health services, wants to work with you and your community on these efforts. Speak up for children's oral health learn more about our efforts by contacting Czarina at biton@hcfama.org or 617.275.2838.
The Art of Bridging to Reframe the Message
This month's e-zine from the FrameWorks Institute's popular teaching series focuses on a technique used in public speaking and interviews called Bridging. This method is meant to help the speaker or interviewee steer the conversation away from potentially damaging frames, towards more productive ones. The problem with bridging, as it is traditionally practiced, is that it accepts the frame of the question and often repeats it before reframing. As good framers we know that the act of repeating a negative frame most often works to reinforce it, so how do we handle bad questions?
FrameWorks discusses Bridging in the context of five core elements of the frame and teaches us to make lemonade out of the lemons we may get in the form of questions from audiences and reporters. For example- when confronted with a negatively framed question, they suggest that we restate the question in a different frame or dismiss the old frame and immediately establish a new one. For more tips on how to handle hard questions, check out the e-zine in the link below.
Join the Watch Your Mouth Team!
Many thanks in advance for sharing this job opportunity with your networks. Please help us find potential candidates for the Oral Health Communications Coordinator position before we close the hiring date.
Click here to learn more about this job opportunity.
June Partner Spotlight: Health Law Advocates
by Georgia Maheras, Staff Attorney
Health Law Advocates (HLA) started in 1996 and fights to achieve health care justice for society's most vulnerable members. We are the only non-profit law firm in Massachusetts dedicated exclusively to health care access. With our parent organization, Health Care For All, HLA combines legal expertise with grassroots organizing and policy reform to advance the statewide movement for universal health care access. HLA provides free legal assistance to hundreds of Massachusetts families each year.
Our clients are low and middle income residents from all parts of the State. Many are children, elderly, or coping with disabilities. All face barriers to health care treatment that result in suffering and loss. Last year, our small staff of full-time attorneys and private practice lawyers in our Pro Bono Legal Network panel combined to assist over 825 families and individuals in obtaining access to needed health care. Day in and day out, HLA staff makes a difference in the lives of ordinary people who simply are unable to cut through legal, administrative or financial barriers to obtaining needed health care treatment.
HLA works with partner organizations to develop legal strategies and increase access in the following areas: children's mental health, health reform, oral health. HLA is in the midst of a lawsuit remediation stemming from a successful litigation against the state: HCFA v. Romney. HLA works closely with oral health partners to reform Medicaid in Massachusetts so all children can get the services they need.
Don't Miss: Health Law Advocates Annual Breakfast! Featuring Jimmy Tingle on November 10th!
Check out HLA's website
We look forward to seeing you at the Oral Health Summit on June 4th and 5th!
Thanks,
Czarina
Previous Newsletters
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
Watch Your Mouth Massachusetts is supported by grants from the Oral Health Foundation and Dental Services of Massachusetts.
Watch Your Mouth Coalition.
