Maryland's Oral Health Heroes to be Honored

For the first time, Maryland's Oral Health Heroes will be celebrated with a panel discussion this Friday at the National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore. Event moderator Ralph Fuccillo told The Healthy Turtle that he expects a lively conversation from the leading oral health advocates who will serve as panel members, discussing the state of oral health in Maryland, how the progress can continue, and how oral health access and disease will be addressed in national heath reform.

The public is invited to attend the discussion, titled "Closing the Gap: Making Oral Health Accessible, Affordable, and Achievable," beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, June 4. It is hosted by the Maryland Dental Action Coalition, which has a 2009 grant from the DentaQuest Foundation to support its transition to a sustainable statewide oral health coalition.

The Coalition was established as the Dental Action Committee in 2007 by Maryland's Secretary of Health and Mental Hygeine John M. Colmers, all in response to the death of a 12-year-old boy, Deamonte Driver. His life could have been saved from a simple and inexpensive tooth extraction.

Here's what WaPo wrote upon his death:

"Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.
A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.
If his mother had been insured.
If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.
If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth."

Ralph says the committee of legislators, policy makers, health administrators, and local dental practitioners from across Maryland has the goal to establish policies, practices and public education initiatives aimed at preventing another tragedy like Deamonte's death.

"In the span of a few years, Maryland has become a national model for constructive change," Ralph says. "I can only image how difficult it must be to select just a few of the remarkable individuals working on behalf of better access to prevention and oral health care throughout Maryland for recognition this Friday."

Here's the panel:
• Catherine Dunham of the Children’s Dental health Project
• Dr. Leslie Grant, Past President of the National Dental Association and Chair of the Legislative Committee
• Dr. Norman Tinanoff, of the Department of Health Promotion and Policy of the University of Maryland (and a member of the DentaQuest Foundation’s Board of Directors)
• Laurie Norris, Campaign Manager for the Pew Charitable Trust’s Children’s Dental Campaign
• Barbara Klein, Associate Vice President, Government and Community Affairs for the University of Maryland.

Let The Healthy Turtle know if you attend! Write a comment below this post, or send an e-mail to healthyturtle@gmail.com. Click the map below for directions: