ADA News

Washington—Oral health is essential to overall general health and well-being, the Department of Health and Human Services said in announcing a multi-agency HHS Oral Health Initiative 2010.

"But as Healthy People 2020 national oral health objectives are being finalized, there is growing recognition that many challenges identified 20 years ago have not been adequately addressed," says the initiative posted at the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration website (www.hrsa.gov/publichealth/clinical/oralhealth/hhsinitiative.html).

"Dental caries (tooth decay) is the single most common chronic childhood disease; there are striking disparities in oral diseases among various disadvantaged and underserved population subgroups, and approximately one-third of the U.S. population has no access to community water fluoridation."

The Association is participating in the 2020 goal-setting effort and commended HHS for emphasizing oral health goals to emphasize oral health. The ADA said the decennial campaign has inspired "highly effective collaborations" since its 1990 inception.

The Oral Health Initiative 2010 "utilizes a systems-approach to create and finance programs" to emphasize oral health promotion/disease prevention, increase access to care, enhance oral health workforce and eliminate oral health disparities, HHS said.

The initiative includes activities under way or in development and involves multiple HHS agencies and the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (See HHS initiatives listed.):

• Head Start Dental Home Initiative;
• National Oral Health Surveillance Plan;
• Review of Innovative State Medicaid Dental Programs;
• National Study on an Oral Health Initiative:
• National Study on Oral Health Access to Services;
• Early Childhood Caries Initiative;
• Clinical and Translational Science Program;
• Cultural Competency E-learning Continuing Education Program for Oral Health Professionals;
• Oral Health as Part of Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

HHS agencies involved in the initiative include the Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service, National Institutes of Health, Office of Minority Health and the Office on Women's Health.

"This new effort seeks to improve coordination and integration among programs to maximize outputs," says HHS Oral Health Initiative 2010.