• 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 7
July 2008

Upcoming Events

Summer is officially here! Summer brings sunshine, warmer temps, and the Watch Your Mouth campaign's 3rd birthday. Read on to learn how you can be a part of our birthday celebration.

In this issue, we highlight the first ever Massachusetts Oral Health Summit; share tips on framing facts and statistics and relating them to our reader's personal views; and feature our July partner spotlight: Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School.

Watch Your Mouth Turns 3 Years Old

Happy Birthday to the Watch Your Mouth (WYM) campaign!!!

This month, we celebrate WYM and the importance of children's oral health by writing letters to the editor (LTE) to local papers across the state. Writing an LTE is an effective way to start a conversation on oral health in the media. Many social issues are framed by the news media. Research suggests that the news media not only tells us what to think about, but how to think about it. Writing well-framed Letters to the Editor help pass on the message that oral health is important to overall health, and that communities benefit when preventive services are widely available.

Join the party by writing your own LTE! To help you get started, we provide you with tips, talking points and media contacts to complete your LTE. The goal of the LTE is to highlight the importance of oral health education and services for all children in your community as a step to contributing to their healthy futures. As a community, we can invest in our children by demanding resources and initiatives that prevent dental disease. You can start this conversation in your community by writing an LTE to your local paper throughout July. Click on the link below to get started.

LTE Tips and Talking points

Better Oral Health for Massachusetts Coalition Paves the Way for a Statewide Oral Health Plan

Better Oral Health for Massachusetts

It was exciting to see many of you at the first ever, Oral Health Summit in Sturbridge, MA in June. Over 160 advocates from across the state attended this two day conference beginning a dialogue to create a statewide oral health plan to address the most common chronic childhood disease, dental decay.

The Summit fostered a discussion on how oral health advocates of Massachusetts can collaborate on the development of a Massachusetts Oral Health Plan. The Summit was a joint effort of the Oral Health Foundation, Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc., Massachusetts Dental Society, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Dental Hygienists' Association, and Delta Dental of Massachusetts. The Better Oral Health for Masschusetts Coalition will continue to explore the option of creating a statewide oral health plan and engage participants in an action plan designed to eliminate barriers to oral health care and increase access for all Massachusetts residents.

Summit speakers included Senator Harriette Chandler and Representative John Scibak who emphasized the importance of collaboration and affirmed their support of a robust oral health policy agenda. Guest speakers from neighboring New England states shared best practices for developing an oral health plan.

Learn more about the Better Oral Health for Masschusetts Coalition

When Facts Don't Fit the Frame

When it comes to how people process facts they hear, FrameWorks Institute President, Susan Bales, summarizes it best: "When facts don't fit the frame, the facts get rejected, not the frame." This means that most people approach a social issue with some prior experience that influences their understanding of that issue, and facts, however compelling, are unlikely to alter that deeply-held worldview. With regard to oral health, we as advocates, often believe that if the public knew the prevalence and severity of dental decay, they would want to get involved to help create solutions. But knowing the data alone does not result in the public taking action. Instead, effective communicators change the frame so that people can hear the issue in a new way. Facts then support the new frame, when they are linked to broader values and meaning that allow people to incorporate new information into how they think about these issues.

FrameWorks provides suggestions and test articles to help advocates deepen their understanding of this framing skill. Click on the link below to learn how to reframe data and facts into public action.

Read the full E-zine

July Partner Spotlight: Diman Regional Vocational Technical School

diman

The Dental Assisting program at Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School program in Fall River, MA, has been in existence for 10 years. The Dental Assistant program trains and educates students to be competent in Dental Assisting skills. Some of the specific tasks are taking and developing dental radiographs, assisting a variety of dental treatments procedures, and preparing and sterilizing instruments and equipment.

The Dental Assisting program also offers students the opportunity to take the Dental Assisting National Board Exams in Infection Control and Radiology Health and Safety. Students in the program consist of Sophomore, Juniors, and Seniors. The curriculum includes class room, work in dental health sciences, radiology, Medical emergencies, Infection Control, Dental specialties, Dental, Materials, and Office Management. Students receive intense hands-on training in the Dental Clinic at Diman as well as their clinical rotations at local dental offices through their cooperative externship. The program also includes several community services opportunities by educating the community about Dental Health Issues. The students participated in Children's Dental Health Month by educating children in of the importance of Oral Health at local elementary schools and day care facilities.

Check out Diman Regional's Website

Enjoy the summer weather. Please let us know of any upcoming children's events in your community, we would like to include them in our events calendar and happy to share WYM materials.

Thanks,

Czarina



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Watch Your Mouth Massachusetts is supported by grants from the Oral Health Foundation and Dental Services of Massachusetts.
Watch Your Mouth Coalition.