OHA’s Wisdom Tooth Project® is moving full-steam ahead, helped in large part by a recent $176,000 renewal grant from the DentaQuest Foundation. The grant will help fund the launch of a web portal for the program this year, containing both national and local components. Next month, OHA staff members will travel to Hartford, CT, to meet with over 30 medical, dental, and social service experts to create a local web portal template for the state which will then serve as a replicable project for other states and regions.

In addition to launching the web portal, the Wisdom Tooth Project is also financially supporting a series of Oral Medicine Clinics to serve older adults in Buffalo, NY; beginning research for the 10^th anniversary edition of our State of Decay report; and working with researchers at the University of Florida to find out how older adults in low-income, vulnerable, and rural communities access health information and resources for care.

To stay up-to-date on everything going on with the Wisdom Tooth Project, sign up for our Wisdom Tooth Insider emails. Check out the program’s webpage on OHA’s website for more information.

OHA’s Gala and Benefit, held at Chicago’s Navy Pier, is this week! Have some questions about what is going on this year? Check out our FAQs here.

Welcome

Thank you for agreeing to join us for a collaboration meeting in Hartford on March 9, 2012.  Below you’ll find details about the meeting, including a draft agenda, driving and parking directions, and contact information for the Wisdom Tooth Project leadership team.  Check back here for updates as the date approaches.

Meeting Details

WHO? You and approximately 30 other leaders in oral health, medicine, social work, community services, long-term care, religious services, policy, and many other Connecticut stakeholders

WHAT? A collaborative meeting to assist in building a robust online space for older adults and their care advisors through OHA’s Wisdom Tooth Project

WHEN? Friday, March 9, 2012 from 9:00AM to 2:00PM (a light breakfast and full lunch will be provided)

WHERE? South End Senior Center, 830 Maple Ave, Hartford, CT 06114

WHY? To unite interdisciplinary leaders with a goal of connecting the local community with resources to improve the oral and overall health of older adults.  What we learn in Connecticut will help us create a local web portal template to be replicated for dozens of additional states and regions

Directions & Parking

South End Senior Center
830 Maple Ave.
Hartford, CT 06114

View Larger Map

PARKING INSTRUCTIONS: Parking is available in the rear and side of the South End Senior Center building. Parking is also available on Douglas Street (one way street) adjacent to the lot. Park on the streets available first, then use the main street as a last resort. If the lot is full, we have arranged for parking to be made available directly in front of the building without ticketing, only during the meeting hours, through the police stationed at the Senior Center.

Agenda (Brief)

Questions? Contact Us

Ben Anders
Oral Health America
Programs and Communications Coordinator
ben@oralhealthamerica.org
312.836.9900

Amanda Ciatti
Oral Health America
Programs Manager
amanda@oralhealthamerica.org
312.836.9900

Ruth Goldblatt, DMD, FAGD, FASGD, DABSCD
Oral Health America
Wisdom Tooth Project Consultant
ruthgoldblatt@gmail.com

Thank you for your interest in supporting the Wisdom Tooth Project web portal.  Your content expertise will help us build a robust online space where older adults and their care advisors can turn for trusted oral health information and resources.

Missed the introductory webinar on Friday, February 10?  

Follow these three steps to get caught up:

Step 1.  View and listen to the webinar below:

Step 2.  Take 7 minutes to give us your feedback.

Step 3.  Get ready to receive introduction materials from OHA + SCDA in spring 2012

OHA’s 22nd Annual Gala & Benefit is right around the corner, featuring some great items in our auction. Those in attendance will have the chance to bid on four tickets to a Chicago Blackhawks game, a 2-night stay at the Loews Don CeSar in St. Petersburg, Florida, VIP participation at the OSAP Symposium in Atlanta, and much more! For more information about the gala, visit the gala webpage.

Every child deserves a healthy smile and Dr. Richard Meckstroth of West Virginia University, a Smiles Across America® partner, is working to ensure just that. When he heard the story of a 16-year-old girl in West Virginia who desperately needed a new smile, Dr. Meckstroth helped get the care she needed. Find out more about this story and the people and businesses who are making it possible.

OHA’s Wisdom Tooth Project® presented a $15,000 grant to the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine to support a series of Oral Medicine Clinics which will improve the oral health of low-income and vulnerable adults in the Buffalo, NY area. Read more about how OHA is helping this community in need.

Every February, the focus turns to children and oral health in celebration of National Children’s Dental Health Month. Across the country, organizations celebrate by spreading the word about the importance of oral health care for children through press releases, activities, and events to educate the public. OHA is dedicated to oral health for children, particularly through Smiles Across America® (SAA), which provides grant money and donated dental product to school-based and school-linked oral health programs throughout the country.

Just in time for National Children’s Dental Health Month, OHA has launched a new process for the SAA Product Donation Project. Along with updated requirements for organizations requesting dental product donations, the application is now entirely online, allowing for a more streamlined and efficient submission process. Visit the Product Donation Project page for more information and to view the 2012 application.

Most teenagers just want to fit in and be accepted by their peers, but for one 16-year-old in West Virginia, this was impossible. Kaila suffers from amelogenesis imperfecta, an inherited condition where the teeth have abnormal enamel, looking yellow and easily becoming damaged. Kaila’s high school principal describes her as a great student but kids were constantly teasing her about her teeth, so her principal decided to reach out and help Kaila get a new smile. Kaila’s story reached the ears of Dr. Richard Meckstroth from  the School of Dentistry at West Virginia University (WVU), a Smiles Across America® partner. Around Thanksgiving, Dr. Meckstroth decided that he was going to make sure Kaila got a new smile for Christmas.

Since Kaila lives a few hours away from WVU, Dr. Meckstroth contacted a hotel nearby where the manager graciously paid for Kaila’s stay while she underwent treatment at the University.  Glidewell Laboratories agreed to donate Bio-Temp provisional crowns as a temporary fix so that Kaila could have a new smile while continuing to undergo more permanent treatment, shown in the photo above.

Thank you to Dr. Meckstroth, WVU, and all of the businesses and doctors who have donated products, time, and services to make one child’s life so much better!

On December 20, 2011 in Buffalo, OHA presented a check for $15,000 as a seed grant to support a series of Oral Medicine Clinics, which will operate 10 half-day sessions from January to December 2012 at Sheehan Hospital and provide care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.  Led by Dr. Michael Glick, Dean of the UB School of Dental Medicine, the Oral Medicine Clinics seek to link the foundational knowledge of medicine into dentistry.  By focusing on medically complex adult patients and the diagnosis and non-surgical management of medical disorders affecting oral health, the clinics will bring together multidisciplinary health care leaders to serve the oral health needs of a growing—and increasingly vulnerable—population of adults in Buffalo.

Why Buffalo?

It’s no surprise that the nation’s economic recession has threatened to take a particularly harsh toll on cities like Buffalo, NY, which once thrived on heavy industry and trading.  As a result, one in three Buffalo residents now lives in poverty.  For the past several years, this hub on the shores of Lake Erie has also suffered losses of health care programs –many of which provide dental services for low-income adults and older adults.

The closing of dental clinics at Buffalo General Hospital, Deaconess, and Judge Mattina Community Health Center left an extensive gap in care for vulnerable older adults facing morbidities and chronic conditions beyond the mouth.  In the midst of these closures, the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine has teamed up with Sheehan Health Network to fill the gap in dental care for older adults in Buffalo.

Oral Health America learned of the need in Buffalo and recognized a strong fit for its Wisdom Tooth Project for older adults, a national program dedicated to connecting communities with resources, educating the public, and advocating for the oral health of our nation’s fastest growing age group.  At the request of Ivoclar Vivadent, an OHA contributor and Buffalo area business, OHA investigated ways to support dental services for underserved adults in Buffalo, and decided to start by making a financial commitment to the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine’s effort to serve those in need of a dental home.

Learn more about the University at Buffalo School of Dental Medicine and OHA’s Wisdom Tooth Project.