- 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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Check out the Watch Your Mouth television advertisement, airing around the state right now!
Preview the ad at full size. (Download QuickTime player.)
Watch Your Mouth Partners in Massachusetts: New This Month
Children can't be healthy without good oral health!
Our state is known for its history of firsts: we had the nation's first public school system, the first constitution and the first public health department. However, when it comes to the simple issue of children's oral health, the Commonwealth has fallen far behind. We can do something about this. When communities work together to make children's oral health a statewide priority, kids gain access to much needed services and prevention.
Learn more about us. Get involved on a local or statewide level and speak up for children's oral health!
Watch Your Mouth: Massachusetts: Partner Spotlight
June Partner Spotlight: The DentaQuest Foundation
By: Brenda Lavasta
The mission of the DentaQuest Foundation (the "Foundation") is to support and promote optimal oral health. Already the largest U.S. funder focused solely on oral health, the Foundation is establishing itself as the national philanthropic leader for oral health improvement. Our recent name change strengthens our vision by linking us with the DentaQuest family of oral health companies who share a common mission of: improving oral health through administration of quality dental benefit plans; evidence-based research that can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of oral health care delivery systems; support of prevention; public awareness; and collaborative efforts for optimal oral health.
The Foundation makes its impact through grants that address systems issues responsible for poor oral health. In the past, the Foundation's philanthropic efforts were directed at meeting the most urgent needs of the communities seeking our support. In 2007, we began a transition to a targeted set of strategies aimed at demonstrable improvement of oral health at the population level. This systemic approach emphasizes comprehensive programs and positions the Foundation as a visible agent of change. Assembling and mobilizing partners, grantees, and state/community collaborators to focus their energies on oral health across the nation will be the focus of the Foundation's work. With our Massachusetts experience as a baseline, the Foundation will extend its influence and grant making beyond the Commonwealth to mobilize key stakeholders, institutions, and community leaders who understand the issues, and embrace similar objectives. Together, we will actively engage in preventing disease and improving oral health.
To learn more about the DentaQuest Foundation and its mission, please visit our website: dentaquestfoundation.org or you may contact Judith Foley, Senior Program Officer at jfoley@dentaquestfoundation.org.
Listen Up!
Last April, Massachusetts demonstrated bold leadership when it enacted landmark legislation to transform the state's healthcare system. As the state and its partners continue to refine the law and its provisions, it is critical that our leadership recognize one important-and often overlooked-aspect of overall health: oral health.
Learn how you can watch your back by watching your mouth with the new WYM public service announcement:
Watch Your Mouth: Business has Role to Play in Kids' Oral Health
Business owners in Massachusetts have diverse needs and interests, but we all have one thing in common: we need a capable and healthy workforce to make our businesses successful. That future workforce is today's children. As the President and CEO of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, I am concerned with what the U.S. Surgeon General identified as a “silent epidemic” in the health of our children – dental disease. I was surprised to learn that tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease, five times more common than asthma, and that it can affect a child’s overall health. In fact, untreated tooth decay can have profound effects on the ability of our children to grow and learn. Oral disease keeps kids out of school and later out of work.
We can do a better job of taking care of our future workforce. Nearly half of all children in our state have experienced dental disease by the time they reach third grade. Children with tooth decay have trouble eating, speaking and paying attention in class. They are also at risk for other illnesses, because oral health is an important part of a child’s overall health. Unless we begin to treat it as such, we risk the education, health and future of our state’s children. And by risking their future, we jeopardize the economic health and future of our business community and state.
As a business leader, I also appreciate innovation and a proven track record. A report from the Centers for Disease Control shows that preventive services, such as screenings, dental sealants and fluoride protection, have significantly lowered the incidence of child and adolescent tooth decay over the past fifteen years. If we increase access to these preventive services in schools and community-based clinics, we can make an enormous difference in the health of our children. If we include oral health in pre-kindergarten health exams we can also catch many problems early and put kids on a healthy path to learning.
Business and community leaders can bring our expertise to bear on this problem by brainstorming more creative ways to recruit dentists to practice in our rural and underserved areas. Together, we represent a strong contingent of influence and experience. The business sector is full of innovative thinkers who regularly create successful solutions to their own corporate problems. We should come together now on behalf of our future stock clerks, customer service reps, technicians and managers. Together, we can improve the oral health and general health of our children. Our very future depends on our commitment to the health and success of our young people. We can't afford to defer on these investments.
Richard C. Lord
President and CEO
Associated Industries of Massachusetts
Previous Updates:
- Keeping the Faith
- Planning for a Healthy Future
- Making the Grade
- Charting a Course for Change
- An Ounce of Prevention
- Proven Solutions
- Bring the Future
- The Unguarded Gate
- Taking Good Care of Our Future
- Five Good Reasons to Watch Your Mouth in 2007
- Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
- Legacy of Leadership
Watch Your Mouth Massachusetts is supported by grants from the Oral Health Foundation and Dental Services of Massachusetts.
Watch Your Mouth Coalition.
