By
Ralph Fuccillo, DentaQuest Chief Mission Officer, President DentaQuest
Foundation
As
I’ve said many times, the common diseases of the mouth – cavities and gum
disease—are nearly completely preventable with education, information and
access to care.
I
was very pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the American Dental
Association’s (ADA) Prevention Summit. As a leading national professional
dental association, the ADA commands attention. The ADA brought together
participants from academia/research, private practice dentistry, philanthropy,
dental teams, health promotion, industry, non-dental health care providers,
patient advocates, policymakers, insurers and ADA dental societies. I sat with
colleagues in philanthropy. Dr. John Luther, DentaQuest’s Chief Dental Officer,
joined others involved in financing care. Dr. Michael Monopoli, Director
of Policy and Programs for the DentaQuest Foundation joined the policy table.
Dr. Rob Compton, Executive Director of the DentaQuest Institute led a session
on How Financing Incentivizes and Reinforces Practice.
Elaine Kuttner of Cambridge
Concord Associates led the group through an interactive summit agenda and
initiated thoughtful table discussions. Many of us have come to know and
respect Elaine for her careful work in guiding common ground conversations at
the U.S. National Oral Health Alliance Colloquia. I was also very
pleased to see that the DentaQuest Foundation’s Systems Change Approach was one of the
prevention frameworks presented for discussion. After two days, the
Summit concluded with all agreeing to some ambitious goals:
- Eradicate childhood caries
- Emphasize health equity
- Apply the chronic disease
framework to dental disease
- Build community-facing care
systems
- Redesign prevention
I was particularly inspired by the keynote
presentation of Dr. Hayagreeva Rao,
PhD,
the Atholl McBean Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at
Stanford University. Professor Rao studies the social and cultural causes of
change and the role of social movements as motors of change. Dr. Rao
encouraged participants to consider the motivational dynamics of other
movements and how an oral health movement might be shaped.
We are at a crucial movement in oral
health. The ACA has inserted prevention and oral health into the national
dialogue. People who had not previously had the ability to purchase dental
insurance for themselves or their families now can through the exchanges.
And the emerging national network of oral health supporters and advocates, many
of whom are Foundation grantees and partners, is ready and willing to carry the
message of oral health to families, consumers, care givers, policymakers, and
legislators.
Following the Summit, there have been many
meaningful exchanges among participants regarding the potential and sometimes
the frustration in funding ways to make prevention a more central focus of oral
health.
For more information on DentaQuest
Foundation and DentaQuest Institute, visit DentaQuest.com.