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Oral Health America Continues to Educate, Advocate and Direct Oral Health Resources in Its 60th Year

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Nonprofit Organization Strives to Better Overall Health Through Improved Oral Health
Posted: February 11, 2015
Edited by Dentaltown staff

CHICAGO—Oral Health America (OHA) is celebrating its 60th year of improving the nation’s oral health with updates from both of its signature programs, a new mission statement that reflects the organization’s focus on oral health and a new commemorative logo.
 
OHA’s Smiles Across America (SAA) program supports oral healthcare and education in school-based and school-linked settings across the country. During the 2013-2014 school year, nearly 460,000 were reached through 304 program partners in 47 states in nearly 4,000 schools. In addition, OHA’s Seal Two Million campaign, which recognizes the best practice of applying sealants in school-based settings, came close to its goal of sealing two million teeth by 2020, with 1,833,390 teeth sealed since 2010.
 
Building on teethwisdom.org, OHA’s website for older adult oral health resources, OHA continued to spread the message of the importance of oral health for older adults. OHA’s Wisdom Tooth Project launched a pilot of Tooth Wisdom: Get Smart About Your Mouth, an oral health education workshop for community-dwelling older adults.

In partnership with the American Dental Hygienists Association, volunteer hygienists led workshops throughout the Chicago area to empower older adults to take charge of their oral health. In total, 238 seniors attended the pilot workshops and out of 180 older adults surveyed, 91 percent of participants felt more confident about their ability to manage their own oral health. In addition nearly 75 percent improved their oral health knowledge as a result of the workshop.
 
“We are proud of these positive strides forward for oral health as a result of our programs for children and older adults, which are serving and educating Americans who need them most,” said OHA president and CEO Beth Truett. “Expect to see new developments during OHA’s 60th year as we continue to support progressive policies, focus on health literacy and redouble our efforts to improve access to and utilization of care.”
 
To more accurately reflect the work being done to improve the nation’s oral health as part of overall health, OHA has introduced a new mission statement. OHA’s mission is now “to change lives by connecting communities with resources to drive access to care, increase health literacy and advocate for policies that improve overall health through better oral health for all Americans, especially those most vulnerable.”
 
For more information, visit oralhealthamerica.org. 
 
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