ADA News

Jefferson City, Mo.—In the Show-Me State, "Your Mouth Is Talking. Are You Listening?"

www.YourMouthIsTalking.org.

"Missourians know what they need to do to care for teeth and gums, but they're not necessarily doing it," says the Missouri Dental Association's newly launched public education campaign website "Your Mouth Is Talking. Are You Listening?"

According to research conducted as a part of campaign development, Missourians cite cost and lack of time as reasons for not seeing their dentist twice a year. However—as dental professionals know—if left untreated, dental decay does not heal and will only get worse, which leads to more serious health concerns and more expensive treatment.

The website features messages for "dental health by the decades" including pages for early childhood, kids and teens, adults, older adults, pregnancy and diabetes management, and it encourages visitors to "talk more" at the campaign's Facebook page.

"The site presents many important oral health facts and disease prevention tips in a dynamic and fun way, as can be seen in the 'Messages from Your Mouth' videos," said Vicki Wilbers, Missouri Dental Association executive director. "In addition to Missourians learning about the importance of oral health to total health, we hope they will use the 'Find an MDA Dentist' feature to connect with one of our members who can ultimately help with disease prevention and oral health maintenance."

Work on the theme and materials began in January and by June the campaign—described as having a "slightly irreverent tone"—officially launched with the mailing of a Member Toolkit featuring campaign brochures, posters, a CD with printable fact sheets, web copy and widgets and more.

The messages on materials in the Toolkit serve as the foundation to drive the campaign. "The Toolkit is aimed at helping our member dentists spread the campaign in their practices and communities, beyond the other tactics being executed, such as social media and word of mouth outreach," said Ms. Wilbers. "As well, we're implementing some unique advertising tactics including pay-per-click Internet and Facebook ad buys. We are excited to see it all come together and be rolled out."

"The 'Your Mouth Is Talking' campaign is designed to help Missourians recognize the connection between oral health and total health and motivate them to adopt a preventive approach to oral health," Ms. Wilbers said. "The success of the campaign will be measured through media analysis, online tracking tools and a consumer benchmark tracking survey."

She credits the ADA's state public affairs program for helping lay the groundwork for the campaign efforts. "We've been fortunate to work with Fleishman-Hillard (FH) as our in-state consultant through the American Dental Association's SPA program. They have been such a strong partner in understanding and communicating oral health issues on behalf of the MDA in an effort to help the Association establish itself as the oral healthcare leader in the State of Missouri."

Dr. Merle Nunemaker

The original contract with FH through the ADA SPA program presented the opportunity to develop a proposed campaign plan that was then funded through a membership assessment. Activities included in the SPA program, such as media training for dentists, have carried over for the campaign. Dentist members of the public education campaign committee will be available for media interviews as the campaign gains visibility.

"I have been very fortunate to have been able to receive the media training from FH as part of the SPA program," said Dr. Merle Nunemaker, a general practitioner in Kansas City who serves as the MDA’s legislative and regulatory committee chair. He also is on the campaign committee. "It has enabled me to be comfortable and focused when doing TV interviews and also in dealing with our legislators." Dr. Nunemaker views the public education campaign as almost a natural extension of the MDA's relationship with FH, making it easier to proceed together.

"As the legislative and regulatory chair it will make my job easier because through the campaign legislators will see and hear that dentists are committed to improving the health of our citizens," he said. "This effort will be front and center, along with the other endeavors dentists have undertaken to make a difference for our state, such as the Donated Dental Services program."

Dr. Lynne Barbour

Dr. Lynne Barbour, who serves as an MDA board member and chair of the public education campaign committee, agrees. "The ADA's SPA program helped the MDA form a relationship with FH. Through that relationship, we have realized the potential we have to increase the public's dental health awareness," Dr. Barbour said. "Some of our members have expressed reservations regarding the campaign assessment and plan ... they feel that if patients are visiting our offices, then they must be well informed. However, through our research, we have found that this is simply not true. We also want the public to understand that an MDA member is the dental health expert they want to visit."

The MDA is extremely grateful for the ADA and its SPA program (and funding), which has allowed the Missouri Dental Association to benefit from a relationship with a professional PR/communication firm, said Ms. Wilbers.

"The activities we have undertaken are likely something the MDA would not have been able to do without these funds, nor would we have seen the value in it without the impetus from the SPA program," she said.