ORAL HEALTH AMERICA BRINGING HEALTHY MOUTHS TO LIFE SPRING 2011
Smiles Across America Welcomes New Sites in Kansas, Arizona, Massachusetts, and Florida ®
Dear Friends of OHA,
For the 2011/2012 school year, Smiles Across
Oral Health America just released
America® (SAA) is proud to welcome four
our 2010 Annual Report, available
new sites into the SAA family. The Community
at www.oralhealthamerica.org/
Health Center of Southeast Kansas, Smiles
annualreport.
Across Pinal County in Arizona, Oral Health
OHA is thriving and
“We now have the closest thing to the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval that one can get in the dental world”
-Krista Postai, CEO, Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas
returned 76 cents on every dollar
Across the Commonwealth in Springfield,
donated to our programs. We met
Mass., and CHS Healthcare, Inc. SAA is
our goal to seal 1,000,000 teeth and
supported by Trident, the Patterson Foundation
doubled that commitment for 2020;
and Plackers dental flossers.
received seed funding to launch a
Two of these sealant programs, Smiles Across
students in rural communities where access
program for older adults and their
Pinal County and CHS Healthcare, Inc. are
to care is a major issue. Oral Health Across
caring connectors; and initiated Fall for
brand new and are affiliated with dental
the Commonwealth, Tufts University School
Smiles with the Dental Trade Alliance.
schools: Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral
of Dental Medicine’s school-based preventive
Contact Christine for a hard copy of
Health at A.T. Still University and University of
services program, will expand to provide
OHA’s Report at:
Florida College of Dentistry. The programs in
care to children at 24 school-based sites in
christines@oralhealthamerica.org
Springfield and Southeast Kansas have already
the Greater Springfield area because of its
and thank you for your involvement!
made an impact in their communities, and the
involvement with SAA.
SAA grants will allow them to provide services
Oral Health America looks forward to
to more children that otherwise do not get
bringing many more healthy mouths to life
routine dental care.
with our new SAA partners.
With gratitude for your continued support,
President and CEO
The Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas is able to reach a large number of
oralhealthamerica.org
Wisdom Tooth Project®—Strategies in Motion to Improve the Oral Health of Older Adults Oral Health America (OHA) is honored to be the recipient of a $145,000 DentaQuest Foundation grant award for the development of OHA’s Wisdom Tooth Project® supporting two of OHA’s five strategies: a communications campaign, and research into the development of a web portal for older adults and their caring connectors. Throughout the spring, OHA convened stakeholder groups, and interviewed subject matter experts, including geriatric professionals and long term care facility administrators, to gather feedback on target audiences, key messages, content priorities, and to develop a shared leadership model for the portal’s development and management.
Stay tuned to www.oralhealthamerica.org
for more updates throughout the summer!
“We are able to identify common themes in the conversations we had about messaging and the kinds of information people are looking for and not finding online,” said Liz Rogers, Vice President, OHA. “One of our next steps is to begin identifying local resources and opportunities so that our target audiences can find the tools they need in their area to care for an older adult or help facilitate improved oral health.”
OHA Gets Ready to Fall for Smiles® Fall for Smiles®, Oral Health America’s annual campaign, a partnership with Oral Healthcare Can’t Wait, an initiative of the Dental Trade Alliance, will kick off September 1 and run until October 31. The campaign promotes awareness of vital oral health habits, including the importance of self-care, healthy eating habits, routine dental visits and no tobacco use. Last year, Fall for Smiles gained over 430 million audience impression through more than 700 media placements. Become a Fall for Smiles marketing partner or sponsor and help Oral Health America spread the message even further in 2011. There are many ways to participate including a smile contest, social media networking opportunities, press releases, letters to the editor, coloring sheets and posters. Visit www.oralhealthamerica.org/fallforsmiles to find all the resources and to learn more. Thank you to the Fall for Smiles sponsors who make the campaign possible. To date: Aspen Dental, Dental Trade Alliance, DentaQuest, Hispanic Dental Association, Ivoclar Vivadent, Midmark, OralDNA Labs, Patterson Dental, Plackers dental flossers.
OHA Says “Thanks a Million” at Its 21st Annual Gala and Benefit Oral Health America hosted its 21st annual Gala and Benefit this February at Chicago’s Field Museum, raising nearly $500,000 to help support programs that help bring access to oral health care and education to Americans of all ages. At this year’s event, OHA paid special tribute to the companies and organizations that have donated over $1 million since OHA’s inception. They are: American Dental Association, DENTSPLY International, Henry Schein, Procter & Gamble, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and our newest million dollar donor, Trident®.
Introducing Our New Board and Staff Members Three new members recently joined Oral Health America’s Board of Directors:
Kids Help Kids By Donating to Smiles Across America® After seeing an advertisement for Smiles Across America® (SAA) and Trident on TV, Beth Wise decided to
George Tysowsky, Vice President, Technology, Ivoclar Vivadent, Inc.; Caswell Evans, DDS, MPH, Associate Dean for Prevention and Public Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago; and Victor Rodriguez, DDS, Clear Lake Dental Associates in Houston and a past president of the Hispanic Dental Association.
find out more about the program for her work as Mission Director at
OHA also welcomed new staff members:
Centennial Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kimberton, PA. Every few
Christine Spencer, Administrative Assistant;
months she presents a different mission to the children who attend
and Ben Anders, Programs and Communications
Sunday school at the church and they bring what they can every week to
Coordinator.
contribute to a worthy cause. “I selected Smiles Across America because I thought it would be something the kids could absolutely relate to and they did,” Beth said. “They really get excited when they can help kids.” From January to March of this year, the group of 30 kids raised money for SAA by doing extra chores, digging into their piggy banks, and asking others for donations. By the end of March, they had collected $200, which Beth said, “is like a $1 million. It’s such a big deal for them.” OHA thanks the Sunday school children at Centennial Evangelical Lutheran Church for their generous and thoughtful gift.
o r a l h e a lt h a m e r i c a .o r g 410 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 352 | Chicago, IL 60611 T: (312) 836-9900 | F: (312) 836-9986
FROM OUR SUPPORTERS “We appreciate and admire the strides Oral Health America has made to improve access to quality oral health care nationwide. We take great pride in our partnership with OHA and look forward to our continued work together to positively impact those most in need.”
- Dr. James S. Cole Dean, Texas A&M Health Science Center Baylor College of Dentistry
“I donate yearly to OHA, because I believe in giving back to an industry that has been very good to me. I also believe in donating to organizations that are doing positive things for people, and OHA does such.” - Norman Weinstock
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bringing healthy mouths to life SPRING Newsletter www.oralhealthamerica.org
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