Dental Health Education
An important focus of the Alliance is Dental Health Education. Through several initiatives during the year, we work to educate the community at large in proper dental care.
The “Right from the Start” program focuses on dental care for young children in their first year of life. Materials are available in both English and Spanish.
"Improving Women's and Children's Oral Health", an educational flip chart, is another program offered. Materials are available in both English and Spanish.
"Rock Your Smile" is the theme for the National Children’s Dental Health Month for February of 2012. Materials, including FREE posters and the Program Planning Guide to download, are offered to members. The posters and guide are now available.
DENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAMS
"Right from the Start"
The AADA National Dental Health Education program for 2010 was introduced at Conference 2010 in Tempe, AZ. We learned about the "Right from the Start" program from Dr. Ray Wagner, a pediatrician from Tucson, who developed the program in 2006 and uses it in his healthcare centers in El Rio, AZ.
Dr. Wagner shared the information about the alarming rate of early childhood caries (ECC) that is currently (2010) at 60% while in comparison childhood obesity 30% and childhood asthma 11%. He stumbled onto this little known fact after seeing how sick a little child can get after having an infected molar tooth. It made such an impact on him that he began his crusade and developed the "Right from the Start" program.
For your use are the following materials:
An El Rio Health Centers Action Plan for Maternal-Infant Oral Health Promotion in the First Year of Life
#1 The Pregnancy and Birth, #2 Age 4-9 months, #3 Age 8-12 months
"Improving Women's and Children's Oral Health"
An Educational Flip Chart
In addition to Dr. Wagner's program, the "Improving Women's and Children's Oral Health Flip Chart" was introduced. You can use this along with the "Right from the Start" materials.
- view the "Improving Women's and Children's Oral Health" flip chart
- flip chart order form
"ROCK YOUR SMILE" — NATIONAL CHILDREN'S DENTAL HEALTH MONTH (NCDHM)
February 2012 Campaign
Each February the American Dental Association (ADA) sponsors National Children's Dental Health Month (NDCHM) to raise awareness about the importance of oral health.
- "Rock Your Smile" campaign posters in English or Spanish are FREE. They are packaged in boxes of 25, 50, 100 and 500 and can only be ordered online at ADA.org/ncdhm. Note: If you ordered posters online last year, please login under "Existing User". The system has retained your user name and password.
The two-sided, eye-catching poster features on the one side the McGrinn Twins, Flossy and Buck, along with their best friends and next door neighbors Den and Gen Smiley, are dancing and singing their way to a healthy smile. On the other side, pre-teens/teens are listening to great music while rocking their smile. There is a link to each side of the poster for you to preview the design at ADA.org/ncdhm.
- The Program Planning Guide is only available for downloading at ADA.org/ncdhm.
"It takes only one to make a difference in your community. Thank you for making that difference!"
THANK YOU for
- developing exhibits for display in community museums
- implementing youth education programs in schools on the harmful effects of tobacco and methamphetamines
- providing youth sports programs with information on the benefits of mouth guards
- providing dental health videos for schools, cable TV, and the internet
- coordinating health fairs to promote prevention-oriented practices
- reaching senior citizens with programs for their oral health needs
- educating young children and their parents or guardians about practicing good dental health care through such programs as distributing "Ready, Set, Brush!" books
- and promoting dental health education in many more ways
Do you need resources for dental health projects in your community?
There are numerous resources to assist you with ideas, materials, and website addresses for members to use. You may login to the For Member section and under the Resources tab in the navigation bar, select Dental Health Education.
Member Project Awards Program – Dental Health Education Awards Category
Each year the Alliance recognizes members for excellence in promoting oral health through the dental health education (DHE) awards category in the member project awards program. These awards are presented at the AADA convention. The applications are on the Awards page.
Gigi Kudyba
GigiK@AlliancADA.org
|
BOARD LOGIN