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AAPHD National Office
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3085 Stevenson Drive #200
Springfield, IL 62703
Send contributions and announcements for Communique by the first Friday of each month to:
Becky DeSpain Eden
Newsletter Editor
2009 Meetings
National Dental Assn
July 24-29
Jacksonville, FL
www.ndaonline.org
World Congress on Preventive Dentistry
Sept. 7-10
Phuket Thailand
www.iadr.com
American Dental Assn
Sept. 30-Oct. 4
Honolulu, Hawaii
www.ada.org
Defining Quality in Oral Health Care
Institute for Oral Health
Oct. 15-16 ~ San Jose
www.iohwa.org/2009conf/
Hispanic Dental Assn
Oct. 23-24 ~ Houston
www.hdassoc.org
APHA
Nov. 7-11
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President's Message
Scott Tomar, DMD, DrPH
 In my first column as President of AAPHD, I would like to thank the membership for the privilege of serving the organization in this capacity. Public health is about working with partners to accomplish agreed-upon goals. We continue to partner with the ASTDD on many issues including the National Oral Health Conference, which has grown into the premier meeting of professionals involved in the science and practice of public health dentistry. AAPHD continues to develop and expand collaborative efforts with other organizational and governmental partners. I certainly could not do this job without the help and support of the other Officers, our Executive Council members, our committees, and our Executive Director Pam Tolson and her staff. As a voluntary membership organization with modest financial resources, we need the help and input of everyone in AAPHD to do our work.
As I write this, we are facing a tremendous opportunity to help shape the way oral health services are delivered in the U.S. The White House and Congress are considering major reform of the health care system in this country. We are actively working with our partners to advocate for fundamental changes to how services are financed, delivered and prioritized. The core principles that we have communicated to the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government include:
· As highlighted in the Surgeon General's Report on Oral Health in America, oral health and general health are inextricably connected. Any reform of the U.S. health care system must include reform of the oral health system.
· The primary goal of oral health care reform should be optimal oral health of all Americans and the elimination oral health disparities.
· Quality, affordable personal oral health services should be available for all Americans.
· State dental public health programs must receive adequate funding to ensure they can provide the core public health functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance.
· Oral health reform should include greater investment in effective, evidence-based community prevention services, including but not limited to community water fluoridation, topical fluoride programs for pre-school children, school-based dental sealant programs, mouth guard programs, and tobacco control.
· There should be adequate resources devoted to training the dental public health workforce, including support for graduate education in public health and incentives for state, county, and local governments to employ appropriately credentialed dental public health personnel.
· Communities of color are severely underrepresented among the nation's dentists and dental hygienists. To increase its cultural competence and reduce barriers to care, resources should be devoted to increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the oral health workforce.
· There should be greater investment in research for oral disease prevention and health service delivery.
· Regulation and licensure of oral health care personnel should allow the most cost-effective use of the oral health workforce.
It is critical that policymakers hear from the dental public health community. We have recently issued several Action Alert sand likely will issue others as bills and proposals rapidly emerge. I urge you to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to write, call or email your federal elected officials in response to such alerts.
My priorities for the next year relate to a number of emerging issues, including:
· Health care reform
· New models for service delivery, including mid-level providers
· The future of the specialty of Dental Public Health, including educational models
· Protecting community water fluoridation in a time of governmental budget crunches
· Increasing awareness of what Dental Public health is (and is not)
I envision a pro-active stance by AAPHD on these issues, and several initiatives are already under way. We are investing in lobbying efforts to ensure that our positions on health care reform are represented on Capitol Hill. Although we adopted a policy statement on access to dental care last year, we need to clearly articulate our principles on aspects of that issue, including mid-level providers of oral health services. A workshop on the future of the specialty of Dental Public Health will be convened this summer to begin developing a strategic plan to address short-term and long-term needs to ensure the specialty's continued growth. Plans are also under way to develop a speakers' bureau on dental public health to help explain to the public, professionals, and policymakers who we are and what we do.
I look forward to this coming year as a time of great opportunity. I welcome your suggestions for new initiatives, particularly when coupled with an offer to volunteer to help with their implementation. Thank you for all you do to help ensure optimal oral health for all. | |
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Association in Action
Since the NOHC wrapped up in Portland, the Executive Council has been focusing on health reform, planning a "Summit on the Future of the Specialty of Dental Public Health," and finalizing the guidelines to expand our student chapters.
National Oral Health Conference: Even with the country's economic condition, just over 700 people attended the 2009 National Oral Health Conference in Portland. Special thanks go to co-chairs Scott Tomar, Ana Karina Mascarenhas and Peg Snow. Special thanks also go to our speakers, more than 80 scientific session presenters, and the sponsors and exhibitors that help underwrite the conference. With over 100 attendees registering on site, the NOHC staff thanks the participants for their patience as meeting rooms were reassigned in order to accommodate the last minute increase in attendees. Special recognition goes to the DoubleTree Hotel - Portland Lloyd Center for scrambling to find food and increase set-ups. A final accounting will be presented to the planning committee and the ECs of AAPHD and ASTDD in late June. Planning for the 2010 NOHC to be held in St. Louis, begins next month. Watch the NOHC website for the "Call for Session Proposals" in early August.
Health Reform: On a conference call last week, the EC voted to contract with the Children's Dental Health Project (CDHP) to present association positions on reform and coordinate our advocacy activities in Washington, DC. CDHP is working with a number of organizations to integrate our positions into one message and delivered in one voice. Starting this month, members will receive weekly updates via e-mail. The role of members will be to contact representatives on Capitol Hill and let them hear this message from constituents, "Oral health and general health are inextricably connected. Any reform of the health care system must include oral health." According to CDHP who has been working closely with several senators, their constituents are not weighing in on this message. When prompted by AAPHD, please pick up the phone or e-mail your Senators and Representative with this message!
Summit on the Future of the Specialty of Dental Public Health: In early August, more than 30 AAPHD members, ABDPH Diplomates, ASTDD members and other key dentistry representatives will meet in St. Louis to outline a strategic plan to ensure the "future of the Specialty." The ADA Council on Dental Education and Licensure has requested its Periodic Review of Dental Specialties in the Spring of 2010; the outcomes from the summit will be included. Outcomes will be shared with the memberships throughout the process.
AAPHD Student Chapters: In Portland, the EC adopted documents to help student chapters formally request recognition. Just over a year ago, the first student chapter began at the University of Illinois - Chicago. Since then, the membership committee has been working to develop guidelines for chapters to use to organize. If you work with students who are interested, contact the National Office and request the starter package.
AAPHD Committees: President Scott Tomar continues to appoint committee chairs, but two committees are actively seeking participants. Both committees meet by conference call approximately once a month.
The Oral Health Policy and Advocacy Committee, chaired by CAPT Arlene Lester, continues to update association policies, resolutions and position papers. Sub-committees are working on tobacco, fluoridation, dental and medical homes, dental sealants, health reform and emerging issues. Want to participate? Contact the National Office!
The Membership Committee, chaired by Amos Deinard, is finalizing chapter documents and guidelines and will review requests and recommend charters for new student chapters. The committee is also responsible for reconciling membership issues and making dues recommendations, along with retention and recruiting of members. Again, contact the National Office to volunteer.
www.aaphd.org: Two new webmasters are busy working on the website. Take a look and submit your ideas for new additions. Check it out! |
Association Awards Presented at the NOHC
Caswell Evans, Jr., Past President and Awards Committee Chair, conferred the annual AAPHD honors during a luncheon held on April 20 in Portland, Oregon.
 The2009 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Burton Edelstein, DDS, MPH for his efforts to provide access to dental care for underserved children. He is Founding Director and Board Chair for the Children's Dental Health Project in Washington, D.C. and Chair of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. In his long career of service, Edelstein has served as an ardent and persuasive advocate for children's oral health care in arenas as diverse as Congressional committees, the military, academia and the not-for-profit sector. He has been a member since 1977.
Reginald Louie, DDS, MPH of Castro Valley, California received the President's Award  from Mark K. Greer.Louie was selected for his tireless work in public health dentistry. Since 2002, he has served as a private public health consultant to the HRSA and DHHS and since January 2009 to the ADA Council on Access, Prevention, and Interprofessional Relations. Louie is an adjunct faculty member in the School of Health Management at A.T. Still University in Phoenix. Previously, he served as a regional Head Start oral health consultant and as a regional dental consultant to DHHS, stationed in San Francisco. He has also served the San Francisco areas as the principal Regional Consultant and representative of the HRSA field director in the area of maternal and child health.
 Sena Narendran, BDS, MSc, DDPH,was awarded theSpecial Merit Award. Narendran has provided many years of service to improve dental public health education and to address current epidemiological challenges for the Association and other dental learning institutions, students and colleagues. He is Associate Professor in the Department of Community Dentistry and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Case Western Reserve University. He worked with DHHS performing epidemiology surveillance during the 2005 Katrina disaster. Narendran developed successful dental public health residency programs in San Antonio and Houston and worked with residents to deliver oral health services to underserved populations along the Texas-Mexico border.
The 2009 Public Service Award wasgiven to Mary Otto of Washington, D.C. The award is presented each year for substantial contribution through action related to public health dentistry issues. A seasoned journalist, Otto worked for 20 years at newspapers including the Washington Post, where she broke the Diamonte Driver story in February 2007. Driver, a 12-year-old Maryland boy, died after an infection from an abscessed tooth spread to his brain. The story focused the attention of the public and policy-makers to the plight of underserved populations without access to dental care. The Driver family was homeless and the children did not receive routine dental care. Since then, newsroom downsizing in 2008 redirected Otto to Street Sense, where she is Editor. The newspaper is produced and sold by the homeless in Washington, DC. Otto is a native of North Carolina and attended the UNC-Chapel Hill.
Linda Niessen, Chair of the AAPHD Foundation, presented the Foundation's inaugural grant to M. Catherine Hollister, RDH, MSPH, PhD, Dental Support Center Director-Nashville Area, Timothy L. Ricks, DMD, MPH, Director of the Office of Public Health-Nashville Area, and the Indian Health Service for "Building a Dental Public Health Workforce in the Indian Health Service,"a program to develop a dental public health training program for dental providers working in the Nashville Area of the Indian Health Service.
Alejandra Valencia, DDS, MPH, receivedThe Herschel S. Horowitz Scholarship from the Foundation. She will continue her studies at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry.
ASTDD Recognizes Whistler
Bradley J. Whistler, DMD, received the 2009 ASTDD Outstanding Achievement Award at the ASTDD Awards Luncheon held during the NOHC in Portland. Whistler is the Dental Officer for the State of Alaska. He has served on the ASTDD EC as Secretary for several years, and currently chairs the Data Committee, which is involved in the planning of the Annual State Synopsis, overseeing the National Oral Health Surveillance System, and various other data collection efforts throughout the year. He also serves on the Fluorides Committee. |
Members in the News
Changes in Leadership for ASTDD
The ASTDD Executive Committee announces that Dean Perkins will continue to serve ASTDD as Executive Director Emeritus following his retirement as ED on June 30, 2009. He has served the organization for 18 years, first as an EC member, then as President, and as ED for the last decade. Under Perkins's leadership ASTDD has undergone tremendous growth in all aspects of its operations. It is especially fortunate for the organization to sustain the benefit of Perkins's many talents and organizational intelligence. In his new role, he will serve as web master and provide consulting services as needed.
With equal enthusiasm, the EC announces the hiring of Christine Wood as Executive Director. Wood has significant experience with the ASTDD serving on the EC and as President-elect and President. She has also demonstrated strong management capabilities as Nevada State Dental Director. Nevada is among the first group of CDC funded states, and she succeeded in managing funding, growing infrastructure, developing programs and effective coalition building.
Wood completed her tenure with the State of Nevada on June 12. The office of president was vacated at that time and President-elect Margaret Snow became President on June 13, as per the bylaws. Wood assumes the role of ED effective July 1, with Perkins continuing on a part-time basis. Following the transition, the leadership will design a position that will eventually become an Assistant or Deputy ED, in order to address the growth of ASTDD.
ADEAGies Foundation Honors Judith Jones
Judy Jones, Professor and Chair of the Department of General Dentistryat Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine, received the William J. Gies Award for Outstanding Innovation as a Dental Educator from the ADEAGies Foundationduring the ADEA annual meeting in March.
Ronald J. Hunt Elected President of ADEA
Ronald J. Hunt, Harry Lyons Professor and Dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Dentistry, was installed as ADEA President during the 2009 ADEA Annual Session in March 18. Hunt, who has been Dean of VCU School of Dentistry for 9 years and was previously the Dean for Academic Affairs at the UNC School of Dentistry, is a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Public Health. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed reports of epidemiological surveys and health services, clinical, educational research. Hunt has been active in the American Association for Dental Research and is a member of the ADEA Commission on Change and Innovation in Dental Education. He received both the DDS degree and an MS degree in Community Dentistry and Dental Public Health from the University of Iowa.
Maas Named Policy Advisor
The Pew Center on the States has announced that William Maas, retired assistant surgeon general and former director of the Division of Oral Health in the CDC, has joined the children's dental health initiative as a policy advisor. While assigned to Pew, Maas retains his role as an advisor to the director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Pew plans a new campaign to increase access to dental care for low-income children as part of an effort to demonstrate the benefits of early investment in children. Pew's dental health campaign will work with stakeholders throughout the dental and health policy communities to raise awareness of the problem, advocate for specific policy changes and showcase states that can serve as models for reform. Maas will advise the team on effective strategies to improve children's oral health, build partnerships between Pew and the CDC, and use his broad expertise working with state oral health programs to help run effective campaigns.
Inaugural Group Receives Board Certification in Public Health
 The National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE) has announced that Michelle G. Hutchinson is in the charter group of professionals who achieved certification in public health. Hutchinson, a graduate of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and Harvard School of Public Health, is a retired dentist who is now president of Wordhelper, an editing service. The inaugural Certified in Public Health (CPH) exam was administered in August 2008 to nearly 700 individuals. The NBPHE demonstrates that graduates from accredited schools of public health have mastered required core and cross-cutting competencies and to address the need for greater recognition of public health as a health profession. Employers hiring credentialed graduates will be assured that these candidates have a fundamental breadth and depth of core public health knowledge.
ADEA Leadership Institute Class of 2010
Two Association members have been selected for the ADEA Leadership Institute. David Cappelli, Department of Community Dentistry and the Interim Associate Dean of Student Affairs at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and Woosung Sohn, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cariology, Restorative Sciences, and Endodontics at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and Director of the Dental Public Health program, will participate in the year-long program that develops the most promising individuals at academic dental institutions to become future leaders in dental and higher education. |
Dental Public Health Issues In Print
Oral Health Care in Medicaid and CHIP
An updated policy brief available from the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured provides an overview of oral health care access and coverage for low-income children. Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are major sources of dental coverage for millions of low-income children; however, barriers continue to leave many children without adequate oral health care. Read the policy brief online.
CHIP TIPS: Citizenship Documentation Changes
A new CHIP TIP from the Kaiser Family Foundation's KCMU examines changes to citizenship documentation requirements under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The law extends the requirement to document citizenship that applied in Medicaid to CHIP as well. It also modifies current requirements to reduce the paperwork burden on families and states and helps ensure that eligible children and others are enrolled and receive needed health care without delay. This is the third in a series of CHIP TIPS, a collection of short papers that examine new opportunities for covering children following the reauthorization and expansion of CHIP in February. The series, which explores a range of topics, is jointly produced by the Foundation and the Center for Children and Families at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. Papers in the series can be viewed online.
Brief Examines Disparities in Unmet Dental Care Needs among Children
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has released "Trends in Child Health 1997-2006: Assessing Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Unmet Dental Care Needs." The issue brief examines disparities in the reporting of unmet dental care needs because of cost over the past 12 months among black, Hispanic and white children younger than age 18. The brief compares the unmet dental care needs among the racial/ethnic groups of children overall and among children of various racial/ethnic groups in families with similar sociodemographic characteristics, such as family type, poverty status and health insurance coverage. Hispanic children are the most likely to have dental care needs that are unmet because of cost, according to the brief. Click to download the brief.
Resources for State Policy Makers on New Dental Provider Options
The Pew Center on the States and the National Academy for State Health Policy, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, conducted a comprehensive literature review and interviews with leading experts in several states to learn about existing proposals for new dental providers. The report explores three provider types-dental therapists, community dental health coordinators and advanced dental hygiene practitioners - along with steps that state policy makers can consider developing these new providers in their states. "Help Wanted: A Policy Maker's Guide to New Dental Providers" and a companion brief are available online.
Healthy People 2020 Phase I Report Released
The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020 has completed its Phase I recommendations, which have now been reviewed and released by the Secretary. The Phase I report includes recommendations for the overall framework and form of Healthy People 2020, as well as initial strategies for implementation. The HHS Secretary has yet to make final decisions about Healthy People 2020. The draft report is available online.
Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Manual
APHA has announced release of "Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention: A Guide for Public Health Practitioners." This manual provides public health professionals with information, skills and tools needed to conduct screening and brief intervention to help at-risk drinkers reduce their alcohol use. Download for free. |
News Bits and Bites
ABDPH Announces 2009 Diplomates
The American Board of Dental Public Health is pleased to announce the 2009 Diplomates:Sangeeta Gajendra, Rochester, NY; Frances Kim, Bethesda, MD; Moncy Mathew, Clinical Assistant Professor, Dental Public Health, UMKC School of Dentistry; Pretti Prakash, San Francisco, CA; Juan F. Yepes, Assistant Professor, and Director of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, University of Kentucky College of Dentistry.
New Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on May 29 the appointment of Cindy Mann to serve as Director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations (CMSO). Mann most recently served as a research professor and executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute. Previously as director of the CMSO Family and Children's Health Programs, she played a key role in implementation of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and led the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' federal and state health policy work. Mann holds a law degree from New York University School of Law.
Association Honoree Wins Fellowship
Mary Otto is a recipient of the 2009-10 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Knight Science Journalism Fellowship. Otto, a former Washington Post reporter and current editor of Street Sense in Washington, D.C., was recognized by the Association during the NOHC for her reporting on the death of Maryland resident Deamonte Driver. The Fellowships are awarded to experienced, self-motivated journalists who hope to improve their coverage of science, technology, medicine or the environment through 9 months of study in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. Otto plans to "pursue study of the gap between the dental and medical care systems, especially as to how that gap impacts underserved populations."
UCSF Dentistry's Center Receives NIH Grant to Fight Early Childhood Cavities
The UCSF School of Dentistry has received the largest grant in its history, $24.4 million from the NIDCR to address socio-economic and cultural disparities in oral health. The 7-year grant enables the Center to Address Disparities in Children's Oral Health (CAN DO) to launch new programs in ECC prevention, to compare methods of caries prevention in children, and to integrate scientific understanding across a variety of primary care and social service settings. NIH also tapped UCSF as the Data Coordinating Center for three of the funded centers, which also include Boston University and University of Colorado. These three centers are being collectively called the Early Childhood Caries Collaborative Centers. Each center includes two randomized clinical trials and all are focused on preventing early childhood caries in different vulnerable, high risk populations. Jane Weintraub, professor and chair of the Division of Oral Epidemiology and Dental Public Health at UCSF, serves as the principal investigator for the CAN DO Center.
Results of Consumer Survey of Dental Benefits
Findings in a recent survey of consumers age 25 and older by The Long Group for the not-for-profit Delta Dental Plans Association revealed that nearly 89% of consumers receive regular dental care, with the majority seeing their dentist twice a year or more. While 29% pay out of pocket for care, 60% have dental benefits, leaving 6 million at-risk consumers who defer the dental care they need. Among consumers who have dental coverage from an employer-sponsored plan, 88% received financial contributions or subsidies of the premium. The remainder voluntarily paid to acquire dental coverage through their employer.
The uninsured dental consumer who defers care has an annual household income of less than $35,000, possesses a high school education or less and is either older than 65 and retired or between the ages of 25 and 34 and unemployed. Of consumers covered by an employers' plan report, 83% reported they visit the dentist twice or more a year, compared to 63% who pay out of pocket for their dental benefits or dental care. |
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Announcements
2010-11 Australian-American Health Policy Fellowship Open
The Commonwealth Fund, on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, is pleased to announce the 2010-11 Australian-American Health Policy Fellowship. Deadline for receipt of applications is August 15, 2009. The fellowship offers a unique opportunity for outstanding, mid-career U.S. professionals-academics, government officials, clinical leaders, decision-makers in managed care and other private health care organizations, and journalists-to spend up to 10 months in Australia conducting research and working with leading Australian health policy experts on issues relevant to both countries. The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing hopes to enrich health policy thinking as fellows study how Australia approaches health policy issues, share lessons learned from the U.S., and develop an international perspective and network of contacts.
The fellowship is structured around mutual areas of interest, such as health care quality and safety, fiscal sustainability of health systems, management and efficiency of health care delivery, and health care workforce. Proposals should address one of the program's areas of interest and clearly demonstrate: the intention to combine research and practical experience; the relevance to both the U.S. and Australia; achievable outcomes, given the duration of the placement; and the potential to advance policy in the U.S. and Australia. U.S. citizenship is a required for eligibility. For further information or an application, go to The Commonwealth Fund.
New WIC Partnership Promotes Healthy Life Habits
The National Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Association and Sesame Workshop, the organization behind the Sesame Street television show, have partnered on a new program designed to provide underserved mothers and children with healthier food options and encourage them to adopt healthy habits. The Healthy Habits for Life: Get Healthy Now project supports the nutritional and health efforts of the WIC program and promotes the program's revised food voucher system, which has been updated to include more vegetables and fruits, whole grains, tofu and soy products. | |
