- 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. 2, issue 3
March 2007
Introduction
In this issue, read about the Oral Health Heroes events in Springfield and North Quabbin and Watch Your Mouth's response to the tragic death of the 12 year-old boy because of a lack of access to preventive and restorative oral health care, initially reported by the Washington Post. Finally, read a final announcement for the upcoming HCFA Policy and Organizing Conference on March 30th, we hope you can join us.
Springfield and North Quabbin Partners Honor Oral Health Heroes
Partners for a Healthier Community celebrated the kick-off of the BEST Oral Health program (Bringing Early Education Screenings and Treatment), formerly known as the Hampden County Preschool Oral Health Pilot Project. The event was held on February 23rd at the Early Childhood Care Centers of Greater Springfield, with over 100 attendees. BEST Oral Health is housed within the Department of Early Education and Care and provides oral health screenings and preventive services to children ages 0 to 5 years old at early education centers throughout Hampden County. This innovative program makes the important link between oral health and childhood development and educational success.
Senators Gale Candaras and Stephen Buoniconti and Representative John Scibak were all honored for their leadership in ensuring that the state budget included funding for the pilot project. In addition, local advocates and early childcare providers were honored for their work in advancing BEST Oral Health. Attendees were able to walk across the hallway and observe BEST Oral Health in practice as dental hygienists from the Tufts Dental Community Program and Oral Health Impact Program performed portable dentistry services for kids at the Center.
The North Quabbin Community Coalition held their Oral Health Heroes Event in conjunction with their fifth annual Healthy Smiles Dental Fair on March 3rd at the Athol-Orange Elks Lodge in Orange. Over twenty community organizations participated and 450 people attended the event. Senator Stephen Brewer and Representative Anne Gobi were honored for their commitment to improving access to oral health services through the legislature. Additionally, Stephanie Perkins, a dental hygienist at the Desmond-Callon Community Health Center was honored for her commitment to improving oral health access in the area.
WYM MA's Response to Washington Post article on the Death of Deamonte Driver
The Washington Post article on March 2nd, surrounding the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy who died from dental complications, underscores the need to improve access to routine, preventive oral health care for all. It's important to remember that dental disease is almost entirely preventable, and affects thousands of children in our state. Right here in Massachusetts, nearly half of third graders have a history of dental decay, and more than one quarter are at school with untreated tooth decay and severe infections that require immediate care.
We know that regular visits to a dental professional can stop early signs of infection and decay from degenerating into full-blown disease, but much like what happened in Maryland, there are a number of barriers that prevent families from gaining access to dental care, including a lack of dental professionals in many communities and a very low number of dentists who accept Medicaid insurance for dental procedures. Despite these challenges, there are several tried and true common sense solutions that can virtually eliminate this disease in children if we make it a statewide priority.
For example, we can establish school-based dental screening programs, encourage pediatricians to roll routine oral check-ups into annual well-child visits, and increase partnerships with community health centers to provide preventive and restorative care.
We can also work to expand access to dental sealants in school and community-based settings. This thin plastic barrier applied by a dental professional to a child's back teeth, can prevent the majority of dental decay in children. The screenings, sealant and fluoride treatments that school- and community-based clinics can offer are low-cost practices that can prevent up to 90% of dental decay.
By working to expand access to important preventive measures, we can eliminate oral disease in thousands of children. Every child counts. So, let's watch our mouths and use them to ask our legislators to make children's oral health a statewide priority.
- American Dental Association Press Release 3/2/07
- American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry 3/2/07
- Children's Dental Health Improvement Act of 2007 (Washington Post article 3/3/07)
Annual HCFA Policy and Organizing Conference in just two weeks!
Health Care For All's annual Policy and Organizing Conference is in just two weeks! The event will be held on March 30th at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough. There promises to be something of interest for everyone at the event. Governor Deval Patrick will be speaking along with Dr. Judy Ann Bigby, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and Jon Kingsdale, the Executive Director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority. In addition, there will be exhibitor tables representing organizations all across the state, over 14 workshops to choose from and an expert organizing panel.
It's not too late to register! Additional information, registration instructions and directions to the conference can be found by clicking on the link below. We hope to see you there!
HCFA Conference Registration
Watch Your Mouth Massachusetts is supported by grants from the Oral Health Foundation and Dental Services of Massachusetts.
Watch Your Mouth Coalition.
