Bringing Healthy Mouths to Life
access education advocacy
o r a l h e a lt h a m e r i c a .o r g
Smiles across america® OHA’s Smiles Across America® (SAA) program supports oral disease prevention services in schoolbased and school-linked settings for children who are unable to obtain routine dental care due to lack of insurance, resources, transportation, or because of low literacy or language barriers. • Launched in partnership with public schools and community health providers in 2004, SAA has given over $1.8 million in grant support through 2010. • SAA provides grant funding and technical assistance to treatment partners in one out of every four states across the country, supporting services to an estimated 310,000 children-and growing. • The SAA Product Donation Project distributes over
500,000 units of donated dental product annually, reaching over 900 treatment partners since 1998. • In 2010, OHA met its commitment to America’s Promise to seal 1,000,000 teeth!
OHA has made another commitment to seal 2,000,000 more teeth by 2020!
ABOUT OHA Oral Heath America is a non-profit organization founded in 1955 and located in Chicago. Our mission is to change lives by connecting communities with resources to increase access to care, education, and advocacy for all Americans, especially those most vulnerable. • Access: OHA affords oral disease prevention and oral health promotion for Americans of all ages through funding, technical assistance, donated dental product, and by facilitating public-private partnerships. • Education: OHA’s messages to the American public center around self care, regular dental visits, tobacco cessation and healthy food choices, and routinely generate over 400 million audience impressions. • Advocacy: OHA encourages policies that create oral health equity for all 300 million Americans.
CAMPAIGN FOR ORAL HEALTH EQUITY Engages the public through multi-faceted communications strategies such as our annual Fall for Smiles® campaign, and encourages Americans to speak up and rightly prioritize mouth health alongside other health considerations in improving the nation’s health.
THE WISDOM TOOTH PROJECT
The Wisdom Tooth Project® (WTP) changes the lives of older adults especially vulnerable to oral disease. Over 23% of 65-74 year-olds show signs of severe periodontal disease; one-third have untreated tooth decay. As this population reaches a projected 88 million by 2050, our country will experience a dramatic increase in elder oral care needs. • OHA’s leading strategy is research and implementation of an online community for community-based geriatric professionals, caregivers and caring institutions. • The WTP will also include: regional “town hall” meetings; research reports on elder oral health issues; a handbook for dental and medical professionals treating older adults.
MEDICAL DENTAL DIALOGUES® Medical Dental Dialogues® provides a platform for medical and dental healthcare professionals to share knowledge and treatment protocols for diseases and conditions that affect the mouth, and makes this information available to communities of students, clinics, practitioners and interested public. • OHA’s year-long education and communications campaigns reach over 130,000 professionals in higher education, industry and medical and dental practices. • Our conferences bring new clinical and behavioral research to light in forum and online settings. Visit: nyas.org/collaborative • OHA will connect with new audiences through panel discussions, podcasts, webinars, educational tool kits and other media to share emerging research on the relationship between periodontal disease and a growing number of chronic diseases.
NSTEP® National Spit Tobacco Education Program NSTEP® was founded in 1994 to prevent people, especially young people, from starting to use spit and smokeless tobacco, and to help all users quit. • OHA partners with Little League International to sponsor an NSTEP slogan contest for all Little League players, annually reaching over 16 million children and families. • Our booth at the Little League World Series promotes oral health messages for the 350,000 Little League players and their parents who attend each year.
OHA sells a variety of low-cost NSTEP educational materials, popular with schools and health departments across the country. Order online at
oralhealthamerica.org/nstep
CONTACT & Support OHA eNews Sign up for OHA’s monthly eNewsletter at oralheathamerica.org
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Donate Online Visit oralheathamerica.org and donate today!
o r a l h e a lt h a m e r i c a .o r g Oral Health America 410 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 352 Chicago, IL 60611 T: (312) 836-9900 | F: (312) 836-9986