• 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. 4, issue 3
March 2009

Upcoming Events

Happy March! It's been a busy season for the Watch Your Mouth campaign and we are looking forward to the warmer months ahead. February was full of exciting Children's Dental Health month events. This newsletter features two events organized by the Tri- County Collaborative for Oral Health Excellence and the Massachusetts Dental Society. Scroll down below to read on.

This month, we share information on the oral health provisions included in the recently signed legislation reauthorizing the State Children Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). We also feature our partner of the month, The Forsyth Institute. Last but not least, we share some upcoming events and new resources, which you can find on the left side of the page.

Oral Health Provisions in SCHIP will improve access and coverage of dental care nationwide

kids together

The opportunities we create for our communities help give our children-- the future generation of the Commonwealth-- an equal start to a healthy and productive life. In 2000, The U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher emphasized the importance of oral health as part of overall health. Earlier this year, the Obama Administration made a commitment to put the mouth back in the body by including oral health provisions in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and ensuring health coverage to 11 million children.

The reauthorization of SCHIP expands comprehensive "coverage of dental services necessary to prevent disease and promote oral health, and restore oral health structures to health and function." The reauthorization bill includes two major successes for oral health champions. First, dental care services are now covered through SCHIP. Previously providing dental care was once an option each state could consider, but now it has been mandated that states guarantee and cover access to oral health care. Second is the expansion of dental coverage to children and families who have access to private health insurance but lack access to oral health care. Stay tuned as we learn more about how the changes in SCHIP will affect Massachusetts.

If the mouth is the gateway to a healthy body, then comprehensive dental programs are the key ingredient to building a true health coverage infrastructure. We can continue to improve our overall health if we all play an active role in local, statewide and federal initiatives that improve the status of oral health care here in Massachusetts and for our nation as a whole.

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties come together to address the region's most common chronic disease: dental decay

Dental decay remains the most common, chronic disease on Cape Cod. The latest study by the Tri- County Collaborative for Oral Health Excellence (Tri- CCOHE) finds that 62,000 Cape and Islands residents suffer from untreated dental decay. February is Children's Dental Health Month and in honor of this important month and issue, Tri-CCOHE presented it's findings of the study "Making Headway: Easing the Burden of Dental Disease in Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties" during a press conference at the Ellen Jones Community Dental Center.

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties

The findings of this report informed the Cape Cod community about the nature and prevalence of dental disease, the steps that have to be taken to increase access and reduce disease, and ways communities can mobilize for better oral health and improved quality of life for many residents. This report also documents the progress that has been made in addressing dental disease and describes the role of multiple sectors of the community in reducing this preventable disease. The press conference served as an opportunity to formalize partnerships between the public and private sectors of oral health and address dental decay as a community issue.

Lack of access to appropriate and timely dental services is a major barrier to care in this region. In fact, an estimated 75,850 people on the Cape and Islands need access to affordable dental care. The Tri- CCOHE study found that dental disease continues to be a major public health problem, affecting more than half of school children and the vast majority of adults. Screenings conducted with Cape children in kindergarten, grades three and six demonstrated an average of one in three children has a history of dental caries. More than one in four children screened through prevention programs in tri-county schools had untreated decay and an estimated one in four of all adults in Barnstable County have untreated tooth decay.

The Tri-CCOHE's mission is to create an oral health system with 100 percent access to a full range of services for residents of Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties. The Coordinator of Tri-CCOHE, BL Hathaway, said that the Collaborative has been working to improve children's oral health through preventive treatment and community-based solutions. Tri-CCOHE also promotes the importance of children's oral health among policymakers, physicians, educators and service providers through a coordinated effort. For more information, please contact Tri-CCOHE's Coordinator, BL Hathaway at (508) 771-1375 or at hathawaybl@yahoo.com.

The Massachusetts Dental Society Launches their Call to Action plan to improve the oral health of the Commonwealth

Massachusetts Dental Society

The Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) issued a Call to Action to the residents of the Commonwealth. MDS is an oral health care organization representing 5,000 dentists, and has been working to create a comprehensive plan to improve the oral health of Massachusetts residents by 2013.

The plan divides its goals into three categories. The first is to ensure that oral health is a part of overall health though legislative and educational action. Secondly, MDS aims to increase access to care by working with dentists, legislators, dental schools, and other organizations. Finally, the Call to Action promotes prevention by placing stronger regulations on smokeless tobacco, requiring mouthguards to be worn by students during contact sports, decreasing access to soda and sugary snacks, and promoting community water fluoridation.

Long time oral health champion, Representative John Scibak (D-Hadley), a co-chairman of the Legislative Oral Health Caucus, spoke at the event. "The Massachusetts Dental Society has taken an active role in developing strategies to overcome the various barriers many in Massachusetts face when attempting to access oral health care. Through passage of the Omnibus Oral Health Care legislation earlier this year, as well as through several new pieces of legislation, the Legislature continues to do its part to protect the oral health of all who live in the Commonwealth," he said.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach emphasized the link between poor oral health and other chronic diseases. "If Massachusetts seeks to remain a leader in the delivery of high quality health care to its citizens, we need to acknowledge that oral health care is an integral part of that system," he stated. "Many diseases, from diabetes, to heart disease, to all types of cancer, first manifest their symptoms within your mouth. I have long believed that dentists play a fundamental role within the healthcare delivery system by virtue of their extensive medical training and their ability to sound that first alarm."

Other speakers also praised this focus on improving oral health as part of overall health, including MDS President-Elect Dr. David Samuels, Dr. Lonnie Norris, Dean of the Tufts School of Dental Medicine, and James Hunt, Jr., President of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.

Learn more about MDS' Call to Action

March Partner Spotlight: The Forsyth Institute

By Matt Ellis

Forsyth Institute

For over six years ForsythKids, a community program started by The Forsyth Institute, has provided preventive dental care to thousands of school children in Massachusetts. The program has a demonstrated track record of success in reducing oral disease by providing dental examinations, cleanings, sealants, fluoride varnish applications, oral health education and assistance in finding a dental home. In August 2008, ForsythKids was featured as the cover article of the Journal of the American Dental Association because of the proven effectiveness of the program in reducing the incidence of dental caries among elementary school children. It was also presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics Oral Health summit in Chicago in November 2008 as a model of best practices for the nation. The Forsyth Institute has received countless requests from other states and several foreign countries for assistance in replicating the program because of its proven public health benefits.

Twice a year, highly qualified dental professionals from The Forsyth Institute transport their mobile dental program to schools in Boston, Lynn, Revere, and throughout Cape Cod and Nantucket where students receive complete dental examinations and preventive services without ever having to leave the safety and security of their school. Children often enjoy the experience as they are surrounded by their classmates in a familiar environment, thus eliminating "dental anxiety and setting the children on the path of oral health and wellness for their lifetime. Nearly 7000 Massachusetts children will benefit from the program in 2009.

In February ForsythKids partnered with Boston Children's Museum to hold an oral health celebration as part of National Children's Dental Health Month. In March ForsythKids is participating in two health fairs in Provincetown and Barnstable to help educate families about the importance of proper oral health. ForsythKids will also visit ten area schools in March as part of its ongoing mission to improve the oral health of children.

Learn more about The Forsyth Institute

During the month of March, keep an eye out for Watch Your Mouth on the CBS program "What's in Store" on March 18th and the release of our advertorial in the Boston Globe on March 27th.

Thanks,

Czarina



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