Lunch Box oral health education program expands to kids with vision impairment

You may know that our mission is to improve the oral health of all, and starting with young children and health literacy is a great step forward.

Before this school year started, we supported efforts by The Children's Oral Health Institute to grow their national Lessons In A Lunch Box: Healthy Teeth Essentials & Facts About Snacks® program. This expansion enables the program to reach children who have impaired or loss of vision. Everyone needs to care for their mouths in order to have healthy futures, and Lunch Box is ensuring all kids have this chance.

In February, special lunchboxes - now with braille - will be delivered to participating schools along with a volunteer presentation to run the program.

So what is this educational program about healthy teeth and why does it matter? 

The Children's Oral Health Institute, a nonprofit based in Maryland, outlines it clearly:

• Lessons In A Lunch Box: Healthy Teeth Essentials & Facts About Snacks is an educational oral health literacy program developed around a lunch box designed exclusively to teach elementary school children. The lunch box includes a color coordinated carrot case with a rinse cup top designed to store a toothbrush, toothpaste, and dental floss.
• The program is created to help children to begin learning early, throughout grade school, about taking care of their teeth, making good diet choices and careers in dentistry.
• The Children’s Oral Health Institute believes the program and the exclusive lesson guides, including the Code Red: The Oral Health Crisis In Your Classroom booklet, will encourage teachers to incorporate oral health education as a part of classroom instruction.
• The program model is presented is to elementary schools with support from organized dentistry, local dental school faculty, their students and community volunteers. It is important that dentist examine and provide treatment for underserved children.
• Exposing dental students to programs like Lessons In A Lunch Box may help to improve the access to the oral health care challenges we face throughout the country.
• Further, the profession of dental medicine is facing a workforce shortage. According to the 2000 Surgeon General’s Report, by 2020 there will be one dentist for every 100,000 Americans. The program places emphasis on encouraging children to begin considering the dental profession as a career option. 
• The ideal times during the school year to introduce the Lessons In A Lunch Box program are:
• October, National Dental Hygiene Month. This is a good time of the school year to present the program because it allows the teacher approximately 8 school months to refer to the visual and practical lessons offered by lunch box.
• February, National Children’s Dental Health Month (NCDHM). This is another great time because much of the dental community looks forward to participating in initiatives that highlight and support the annual observance of NCDHM when dental and medical professionals focus on efforts to improve the oral health of children.
• Give Kids A Smile® (GKAS) Day. Usually celebrated throughout the country in late January or early February, GKAS is the annual centerpiece NCDHM.
• The cafeteria has proven to be the best location in the school to present the program. Students can comfortably have their lunch box open in front of them while listening to the presenter explain all of the fun and exciting educational features of the delightful container. They learn about the following:
• flossing, brushing and fluoride
• healthy dietary choices and good eating habits
• careers in dentistry

Did you learn anything new here? By partnering and supporting this expansion, we learned a lot about the vision impaired community and successful ways to help all children develop important oral health habits.

‘Action for Dental Health’ in Congress

While we all paid close attention to health care in the Senate last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee made a critical, yet mostly overlooked step to advance oral health for at-risk populations.

On July 27^th, the Committee unanimously passed HR 2422, or the Action for Dental Health Act of 2017. This bill calls for Congress to authorize additional oral health promotion and disease prevention programs to help at-risk populations struggling to obtain appropriate oral health care.

The bill points out that more than 181 million Americans will not see a dentist, but almost half of people ages 30 and older have some form of gum disease and nearly a quarter of children under age 5 already have cavities. 

As we at DentaQuest well know, caries is the most prevalent chronicdisease among children and can be prevented. What’s more, we see time and again that Americans of all ages are in desperate need of access to oral health care - Missions of Mercy like the one in Wise County, Va., is a great example. Both the Washington Post and The New York Times covered the July event, for which thousands of people come from miles away and lineup for hours and even days just to get access to dental and other services.

If this new legislation passes through Congress, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will award grants and collaborate with states, counties, public officials, or other stakeholders to implement a variety of initiatives.

These activities could include oral health programs that:

·         more broadly use portable/mobile dental equipment;

·         facilitate the establishment of dental homes;

·         eliminate geographic, language, cultural, or other barriers to care;

·         reduce the use of emergency departments for dental conditions; and

·         provide dental care to nursing home residents.

It is exciting to see bipartisan support for dental care initiatives that have tremendous impacts on the oral and overall health of patients. This type of work will drastically improve the health of Americans. And it has the ability to address the estimated $2.6 billion in free care that dentists currently deliver, as well as the nearly $2.1 billion spent on dental cases in hospital emergency departments – 80 percent of which could be treated in a dental office for roughly $4 million total, according to the bill.

Bipartisanship like this must continue and we urge legislators to make oral health a critical component of any health reform legislation that passes through this Congress. 

Congress: Protect Access to Dental Health Care

As the Senate debates health care bill proposals to transform our care delivery and financing systems, we must ensure they protect access to dental coverage for all Americans.

Over the past few years, more and more Americans have been able to access affordable dental coverage. In fact, since 2000, the percentage of children without dental coverage has been cut in half.

Medicaid has played a critical role in this progress. Dental services are considered an essential part of the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) program, which ensures that children receive regular dental care. Adults have also benefited in recent years, with 5.4 million adults gaining coverage through Medicaid expansion.

Other public programs have also helped. Because pediatric dental benefits are considered an essential health benefit on the exchanges, more kids have coverage. Further, many adults have selected dental coverage through the marketplaces.

As more of us gain access to coverage, we see the rate of untreated decay declining among low-income children, and research shows that costly emergency department visits for dental-related issues have declined. These improvements are in large part attributable to the fact that more people have access to dental coverage.

Over the past several months – continuing this week and for likely the near future – Congress has explored various avenues for health care reform. The value of oral health care and dental coverage cannot be overlooked in these conversations.

Let’s not overlook that tooth decay remains the most chronic condition among children, which can affect school performance and attendance.

Additionally, optimal oral health is not simply a goal in itself, but is vital to creating healthier communities. Research has shown that tooth decay can result in an elevated risk for diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. What’s more, recent studies demonstrate that treatment of gum disease can lead to better overall health management—as evidenced by lower health care costs and fewer hospitalizations—among people with common health conditions like those mentioned above or even pregnancy.

Any health care reforms must ensure dental remains a priority.

By improving access to dental coverage for low-income families in the past few years, we as a nation have made tremendous strides to

• ensure children are well-positioned for a lifetime of optimal health;  

• decrease poor quality, high-cost emergency department visits for dental-associated issues; and

• improve the oral and overall health of vulnerable populations.

We hope Congress pursues solutions that protect these improvements.

Building Health Literacy with Read Across America

If you’ve ever read a book with a child, you know the feeling of joy that comes from the experience, as well as how fundamental literacy is for people of any age.


So it is a source of pride that DentaQuest staff from coast to coast are joining teachers, celebrities, community members and parents in getting kids excited about reading through the National Education Association's (NEA's) Read Across America Campaign, a celebration of reading timed with the birthday of Dr. Seuss.


As health industry professionals, we have a responsibility to educate consumers so they can be active advocates for their own health. In its health literacy fact sheet, the CDC says 9 out of 10 adults struggle to understand and use health information, especially when it is unfamiliar, complex or jargon-filled. In fact, low literacy contributes to poor health outcomes, higher rates of hospital utilization, and less frequent use of preventive services, in addition to overall higher health care costs.


According to the National Center for Education Statistics, since 1993 just 53 to 58 percent of children ages 3 to 5 years read or were read to on a daily basis.


Simply reading daily with a child is important.

• Children who are read to at home have a higher success rate in school. 
• Children who read frequently develop stronger reading skills. 

As part of this year’s NEA campaign, our staff is visiting schools in:

• Columbia, S.C.; 
• Locust Hill and Richmond, Va.; 
• Lincoln, Neb.; 
• Milwaukee and Mequon, Wisc.; 
• Austin and Red Rock, Texas; 
• Doral, Fla.; 
• Snoqualmie, Wa.; 
• Anniston, Ala.; and 
• the Greater Boston area. 

We are reading one of three fun books --Throw Your Tooth on the Roof by Selby B. Beeler, The Tooth Book by Edward Miller, and Open Wide by Laurie Keller. The school’s library will also get the book to keep for future reading.

In Locust Hill #VA, Jackie wowed #HeadStart kids Middlesex Elementary with tales from The Tooth Book. #healthysmiles #READACROSSAMERICA pic.twitter.com/NU6kXJMrm4

— DentaQuest (@DentaQuest) March 1, 2017

Staff who have already visited classrooms said they felt like rock stars and oral health ambassadors. The children loved the facts we shared about their teeth, including how they should take care of their own teeth and gums.


Dental disease is the most common chronic childhood disease – and it is preventable. Introducing children to fun facts about their mouths, teeth and gums through the books we brought for Read Across America is a strong step in building the health literacy skills and disease prevention awareness that will empower this next generation of consumers to be health-knowledgeable adults.


Efforts like these will go a long way to helping us achieve our vision of being a nation where children can grow up free of dental disease.

Make This a Fall for Smiles!

By Steve Pollock, President, DentaQuest

Good dental health starts at home, and parents and caregivers are THE most important role models for their children. Oral Health America has a nice booklet, Fall for Smiles, on their website that can help families talk about good oral health. Also, from September 19-25, Trident gum is donating 5 cents to Smiles Across America® for every pack of Trident gum sold. Smiles Across America helps children who do not get regular dental visits because their families lack resources, insurance, transportation, or because of language barriers.

Make this a fall for Smiles! Brush and floss your teeth daily. Be careful about the sugars in your diet. Avoid tobacco products. And schedule a visit with your dentist.

Tooth protection: Sealants for better oral health

We in the oral health community often take it for granted that everyone understands the importance of preventive treatments when it comes to good oral health. But the reality is that everyone isn’t aware of simple, cost effective things they can do—like brushing and flossing every day and seeing your dental care provider every year. And sometimes we don’t fully appreciate how difficult it may be for some to get dental services -- and that limits their use of preventive treatments.

Prevention is important for everyone, but especially so for children. If we can keep children free from dental disease, we are giving them a strong start to a healthy life. As I’ve said here before, it is hard to do well in school or in life, when you have constant tooth pain.

Dental sealants are a very good way to prevent tooth decay in children.

For those who may not be familiar with them, dental sealants are thin plastic coatings applied to permanent molars. The sealant is applied as a liquid that is brushed onto the deep grooves of teeth by your oral healthcare professional. Sealants dry into the plastic film that provides a physical barrier to bacteria and sugar and effectively protects the pits and grooves on the biting surfaces of teeth from dental decay.

Sealants are considered a cost-effective intervention to prevent tooth decay. Consider this: the cost of applying one dental sealant is significantly less than the average cost of filling that same tooth. And when you think that a single sealant may prevent that tooth from being re-filled many times over a lifetime, it is just pennies spent for every dollar saved.

In support of sealants as a proven preventive treatment, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2020 set a goal of increasing the number of children who have received dental sealants on their molar teeth to 50 percent. But, despite numerous studies confirming that sealants are a cost-effective intervention, only a handful of states have reached this goal.

To help reach this national goal, the DentaQuest Institute is working with five community health center dental programs to find effective ways to increase the use of sealants for children aged 6 to 8 and adolescents 12 to 14. Those are the ages when the permanent molars erupt into the mouth. We hope the results of this Dental Sealants Initiative will help other oral health care providers make sure sealants are a standard tool in their offices for preventing cavities in children and adolescents.

We are optimistic the results of this DentaQuest Institute quality improvement initiative will increase the number of children who receive dental sealants. And that means less dental disease.

Related Posts:
· Some Good News at Massachusetts’ Medicaid Dental Program
· Healthy Smiles in Miami Dade Schools
· Washington’s Unseen Oral Health Debate
· Let’s Talk About the Oral Health of America’s Children
· Is Anyone Listening?

Rating the Performance of Your State’s Health System

There’s an interesting new report by the Commonwealth Fund, Securing a Healthy Future: The Commonwealth Fund State Scorecard on Child Health System Performance, 2011 that is worth looking at.

The Commonwealth Fund’s researchers took a number of objective measures for good health -- such as access to prevention and treatment, the potential to lead a healthy life (defined as factors such as low prevalence of specific health problems, low obesity, and lack of habits and behaviors that impact health, such as smoking) and socio-demographic dimensions (such as income and where you live) -- and looked at how each of these measures impact the others. The result is a very interesting and comprehensive picture of elements that contribute to children's health in each state.

We’re pleased that this report includes preventive dental care and the absence of dental problems as measures of access to prevention and treatment and a factor in healthy lives. The Report concludes that the high rate of poor yet preventable dental health outcomes among children in many states points to the need to improve preventive dental health care.

Better access to oral health services can reduce tooth decay and lead to a better quality of life for children, as well as reduce financial and societal costs. The Commonwealth Fund found that almost one third of children did not see a dentist for a preventive visit in the bottom-ranked state and more than 10 percent did not have a dental check-up in the top-ranked state. Want to know who they are? Click the link on the report title and check out the report!

Dental disease is nearly 100% preventable when people have access to information about keeping their mouths healthy and access to dental services. Public education, expansion of access to dental care, and integration of oral health into routine well-child care are smart ways to do this.

It works best when FAMILIES are able get the services they need to maintain their oral health since parents need dental care themselves for their own good health AND so they can be a good example for their children. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2010 goals recommend that children have at least 1 dental visit annually. And the American Dental Association says that you can start this at the age of 1 or when the first tooth erupts.

So, check out the data for your state. And then let me ask you -- is an annual visit to the dentist something that you do for yourself and for your children?