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Defining Quality
in Oral Health Care
 
 
Oral Health
in Aging America

 

 

Periodontal
Disease & Diabetes

 

 

Early Childhood
Dental Care

 

 

Oral Health & The Body

 

Early Childhood Dental Care

Our nation is in the midst of an oral health crisis and its primary victims are children. Currently, the most widespread childhood disease is cavities. Oral disease impacts the lives of children every day, impairing their ability to learn in school due to needless pain, contributing to other illnesses, and impeding their long term development.

In today's economy, many families cannot afford dental care and their children are suffering. The Institute for Oral Health calls on the health care community to make paradigm shifts in our dental care system to stem this rising oral health crisis.

In 2006, the 1st annual IOH conference in Seattle, WA focused on this theme.

 

Calls to Action

Please join with us to build a future where every child has a chance to learn, play, and grow up in good health.

  • Shift Focus from Surgery to Prevention
    As traditional "drilling and filling" does little to prevent the reoccurence of decay, we should focus on preventive approaches such as early exams, sealants, fluoride varnish, and risk factors to dramatically reduce cavities.
  • Improve Access to Dental Care
    Train general dentists to treat young children, and solve the shortage of dentists in rural and lower-income areas. Cross-train family practice doctors to conduct basic oral health exams, apply preventive fluoride and provide guidance.
  • End the One-Size-Fits-All Approach
    Each person has a different risk for dental disease. We need to design oral health plans specific to an individual's disease risks.
  • Reform & Expand Dental Insurance Coverage
    The current model of providing health insurance for the poor is broken and inadequate for dealing with childhood dental disease. Children are 2.5 times more likely to lack dental insurance than medical insurance. Dental care is an integral part of health care and should be viewed that way by government and employers.
 

In the News

 

Spotlighting Change
 

Related IOH Events

2006 Conference Whitepaper

2006 Conference Speakers
 

"Fixing a child's teeth improves their self-esteem and makes them smile. Those smiles create the ability to move a child to a higher performance and lead more productive lives."

-- Ron Sims
King County Executive, WA

 

An estimated 51 million school hours are missed annually because of health problems affecting the mouth.

-- Surgeon General's Report Oral Health in America, 2000

 
© 2006-2009 Institute for Oral Health. All rights reserved.