O R A L
H E A LT H
Volume 2, Issue 1,
P R O M O T I O N
P R O G R A M
-
M I N N E S O TA
D E PA RT M E N T
O F
H E A LT H
Optimal Oral Health for all Minnesotans!
April 2011
Photo from left: Minnesota Commissioner of Health, Ed Ehlinger, Assistant Surgeon General, William Bailey, and Associate Executive Director, Children’s Dental Health Project, Marcy Frosh.
Minnesota Oral Health
Summit Marks Many Firsts
On February 11, the Minnesota
Department of Health (MDH)
sponsored the 2011 Oral Health
Summit, engaging individuals and diverse organizations
in building the framework for
implementing statewide oral
health initiatives. The Summit
introduced the Minnesota State
Oral Health Plan and officially
released the first ever Basic
Screening Survey (BSS) results of
oral health status of third graders in Minnesota.
The Summit attracted more
than 120 individuals from diverse backgrounds including oral
health professionals, physicians,
public health and social services
professionals, educators, policy
makers, advocates, business organizations, and insurers. Attendance included a special appear-
content links
ance by Commissioner of Health
Ed Ehlinger and keynote speakers Assistant Surgeon General
Bill Bailey and Associate Executive Director of Children’s Dental
Health Project Marcy Frosh. The
Summit provided participants
with new information on oral
health initiatives and how to take
next steps to implement the plan.
“Oral Health Summit”
continued on next page...
Page 2
Volume 2, Issue 1,
April 2011
“Oral Health Summit”
continued from page 1
Director’s Message:
Putting the
Plan Front
and Center
I am so proud of the progress Minnesota
has made in the last few years toward
achieving the vision of Optimal Oral
Health for all Minnesotans. I am encouraged and sustained by the energy I felt at the Summit in February.
Read more about our activities in this second issue of the NewsByte.
The brand new Minnesota Oral Health Plan (draft) is posted on our
website and ready for you to review. It is the result of more than a
year and a half of strategic planning involving dozens of people and
organizations. Please think about how you can use it!
If the state plan is in everyone’s back pocket, it can be used to
demonstrate to policy makers the commitment that oral health
stakeholders have for the goals and objectives. If the state plan exists
separately from the coalition, if the state oral health program is not
integrated into health promotion and disease prevention activities, if the surveillance data we collect and provide is not used as
the evidence-base for our programs, if efforts to increase equity for
health in Minnesota are not increased, we cannot be successful.
Did you know we are already preparing to enter Year 4 of our
Cooperative Agreement with the CDC and that our HRSA funding
ends in August of 2012? I am optimistic about the opportunities
and positive in my thinking, in spite of the challenges of an uncertain future.
Marcia Brand, Deputy Administrator of Health Resources and Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, concluded her remarks at the 2011 National Oral Health
Conference in Pittsburgh with this quote: “A dream is a dream; a
goal is a dream with an action plan and a time line”. The theme for
the 2009 Oral Health Summit was “A Call to Action”. The theme for
the 2011 Summit was “Answering the Call”.
Together, we can turn dreams into realities and answer the call to
action through the development of action plans and time lines that
support the seven goals in the state plan.
~ Merry Jo Thoele, MPH, RDH, Director, Oral Disease Prevention Unit
Lots of networking opportunities were provided throughout
the day to re-energize the oral
health stakeholders around
the vision of optimal oral
health for all Minnesotans.
“This has been an historic
day. For the first time we
have a plan in place that emphasizes prevention and provides a framework for action.
Your presence throughout
the day has been a gift to us
as we collaborate to bring the
vision of optimal oral health
for all Minnesotans to reality
and continue to seek strategies that help people achieve
the best possible oral health.
Today, we have affirmed that
oral health is necessary and
essential to achieve total
health. We recognize that we
need to collect data to target
our resources where they
are needed most. Today, we
move into a new stage for oral
health in Minnesota.” - Merry
Jo Thoele, Director Minnesota
Department of Health Oral
Health Unit.
The Summit provided an opportunity to see how the Minnesota Cancer Alliance implemented the Minnesota Cancer
Plan and how current state
initiatives support the Oral
Health Plan. By bringing
together people, organizing
initiatives around the plan,
and using data as evidence for
action, the future is bright for
oral health in Minnesota.
Volume 2, Issue 1,
DID YOU
KNOW?
The Minnesota
Oral Health Plan
has seven goals,
40 objectives and
166 strategies.
The Plan will not exist in
print form and is available in electronic format
on the MDH website. It is
a dynamic plan that has
the capacity to adapt to
the changing public health
environment in Minnesota.
A time line and process for
periodic review, course correction and evaluation is in
place so that the plan can
be amended as needed. The
framework for development
of action plans, identification of resources, and lead
organizations and individuals will serve to provide
guidance for the next steps
and is also available on the
website.
To view the current plan
and other state plan resources, including FAQ’s,
please visit:
http://www.health.state.
mn.us/oralhealth/
oralhealthplan.html
For more information on
the 2011 Oral Health Summit, please visit:
http://www.health.state.
mn.us/oralhealth/
summit2011.html
For a link to the BSS data
factsheet, please visit:
http://www.health.state.
mn.us/oralhealth/pdfs/
BSS2010factsheet.pdf
Page 3
April 2011
APRIL
IS NATIONAL
ORAL, HEAD AND
NECK CANCER
AWARENESS
MONTH!
According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, close to 37,000
Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer
this year. It will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly 1
person per hour, 24 hours per day. Of those 36,000 newly
diagnosed individuals, only slightly more than half will be
alive in 5 years. This is a number which has not significantly
improved in decades. The death rate for oral cancer is higher
than that of cancers which we hear about routinely such as
cervical cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, laryngeal cancer, cancer of the testes, and endocrine system cancers such as thyroid, or skin cancer (malignant melanoma). The death rate
associated with this cancer is particularly high. Not because
it is hard to discover or diagnose, but due to the cancer being
routinely discovered late in its development. (Oral Cancer
Foundation website, 2011)
In 1988 – 2006, the incidence rate of oral cavity, pharynx,
and laryngeal cancer in Minnesota decreased significantly by
2.1 percent each year among males, but did not decrease significantly among females. Nationally, incidence of this cancer
is decreasing significantly among both men and women, by
2.7 percent and 2.5 percent each year, respectively. (Cancer
in Minnesota 1988-2006, Minnesota Department of Health,
Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System, September 2010)
The University of Minnesota School of Dentistry has developed a detailed video recording of an oral cancer screening
performed by Dr. Nelson Rhodus, D.D.S., M.P.H., and Director of the Division of Oral Medicine. You may view the video
recording at www.dentalce.umn.edu/OralCancerVideo/home.
html.
For more Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer information, visit the
Oral Cancer Foundation at http://oralcancerfoundation.org/
facts/index.htm
“April Awareness” continued on next page...
Volume 2, Issue 1,
Page 4
“April Awareness” continued from page 3
THE CANCER/TOBACCO
CONNECTION
The single greatest risk factor for oral cancer is tobacco, especially when combined with heavy alcohol use. Certainly,
some oral cancer cases are seen in patients who do not use
tobacco and there are also people who develop the disease
with no known risk factors. But the percentage of oral cancer cases unrelated to tobacco is very small. Tobacco, in all
of its forms (cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, pipe and loose
tobacco, as well as chewing tobacco), is indisputably the
primary culprit.
Data from the Minnesota Tobacco Survey Reports shows
that for adults, smoking has decreased from 22.1% to
16.1% over the last 11 years. However, there was a dramatic increase in the percent of smokers who also use smokeless tobacco. Between 2007 and 2010, that percentage had
more than doubled, from 4.4% to 9.6%. For youth, there
was also a continued drop in overall tobacco use especially
among females (31% decline), but there was no decline
among male students. Also, there was no decline in the use
of cigars and smokeless tobacco.
Links for information regarding Tobacco Cessation:
• ClearWay Minnesotasm: http://clearwaymn.org/
• Minnesota Department of Health Tobacco Prevention
and Control website: http://www.health.state.mn.us/
divs/hpcd/tpc/quit.html
Links for information regarding Smokeless Tobacco:
• Web-based Tobacco Cessation project:
http://mylastdip.com/index.jsp
• American Cancer Society: http://www.cancer.org/
Cancer/CancerCauses/TobaccoCancer/SmokelessTobacco
andHowtoQuit/smokeless-tobacco-and-how-to-quit-toc
• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/OralHealth/Topics/SmokelessTobacco/
SmokelessTobaccoAGuideforQuitting.htm
Tobacco Quit Line: 1-800-QUIT-NOW or 1-800-784-8669
Spanish Quit Line: 1-877-2NO-FUME or (1-877-266-3863)
Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-877-777-6534
April 2011
Fun
Fact:
Americans
spend
$100 billion
per year on
hair care
products
and only
$2 billion
per year on
dental care
products.
What good
is great hair
without a
great smile
?
Volume 2, Issue 1,
Page 5
April 2011
Minnesota
Oral Health Unit
partners with Heart
Disease and Stroke
Unit to launch radio
promotion during
Heart Health
Children’s Dental
Health Month
&
The Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Unit and the Oral Health Unit are partners in a project reaching diverse communities to communicate important messages regarding heart health and oral health. The project targets communities
through radio Public Service Announcements featured on KFAI Radio during the
month of February to promote Heart Health and Dental Health. The public service
announcement was aired in the following languages: Somali, Hmong, and Spanish.
Content of radio PSA in English:
The following public service announcement is sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Health, Oral Health, and Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Programs.
February is Heart Health and Dental Health month. For adults and children, daily
tooth brushing, dental checkups and eating fruits and vegetables help your teeth.
And do you know it may also help your heart? Gum disease might increase your
risk for heart disease. So, make healthy choices today.
Volume 2, Issue 1,
Page 6
April 2011
The PSA targeted Somali, Hmong, Latino populations:
Somali Hmong Spanish
Oral health and access is poor/
fair for immigrants. For Somalis still living in Somalia,
oral health is reported better
than the Somali immigrants
here. Some Somalis say that
they are reluctant to seek dental care in the US because of
the fear that they will contract
AIDS from needles used to
administer anesthetics.
PSA in Somali:
Baaqan dad-weyne ee soo
socda wuxuu kaaga yimi
Hay'adda Caafimaadka
ee gobolka Minnesota,
Waxaada Caafidaadaka
Afka (ilkaha), Xanuunada
Wadnaha iyo ka Hor tegida Istaroga (Stroke).
Feberwari waa bisha
Cudurada Wadnaha iyo
Caafimaadka ilkha . Dadaka waaweyn iyo carruurtuba, waa in ay cadaydaan (rumaydaan) waalin
walba. Dhakhtarka caafimaadka ilkaha oo aad
caadaysato, khudaarta
iyo midhaha cunidooduba waa u fiican yihiin
caafimaadka ilkaha. Mase
og tahay in intaasiba ay
caafimaadka wadnahana
taageerto? Cudurada
ciridka galaa waxaa laga
yaaba in ay xanuunka
wadnahana kordhin karaan. Markaa caafimaadkaga maanta laga bilaabo
u feejigoow.
In one study of Hmong people
in the USA, 49% rated their
oral health as poor/fair and
30% rated their general health
as poor/fair. Access to providers is a substantial barrier:
46% rated their access to dental care as poor/fair, 43% visited a dentist and 66% visited
a physician within the past 12
months. Furthermore, in 2004,
prior to their departure from
refugee camps, exams were
given and most of the Hmong
refugees have never had any
dental health care and as a
result one of the most prevalent personal health problems
faced by refugees are oral and
dental health.
Hispanic and other minority
populations experience some
of the greatest difficulty in accessing dental care. This situation gets worse when they are
either unemployed or participants in the Minnesota Health
Care Program (MHCP). One
other source suggests that
Obesity, diabetes, tooth decay
and the risk for infectious diseases are major health concerns among Latinos.
PSA in Spanish:
El mes de febrero celebramos la salud del corazón y
la salud bucal.
Igual para los adultos
como para los niños, es
muy importante cepilPSA in Hmong:
larse los dientes dos veces
Rau cov laus, hluas, thaib al día, visitar al dentista
menyuam me, yuav tau tx- cada seis meses, y comer
huam hniav txhua hnub,
saludable para mantener
mus kuaj hniav tim thaj
los dientes sanos (gozar de
maum, thiab yuav tau noj una buena salud bucal).
txiv hmab txiv ntoo thiab
Sabía usted que cuidar
zaum mus pab yus cov
su salud dental también
hniav kom muaj zog.
ayuda a mantener la
Thiab Koj puas paub hais salud de su corazón? La
tias nws yuav pab tau koj enfermedad de las encías
lub plaw kom nyob nyabx- eleva los riesgos de la
eeb? Yog koj tsis tu koj cov enfermedad del corazón.
hniav, nws yuav ua kab
Toma la decisión hoy de
mob rau cov pos hniav,
practicar hábitos de una
ces tsis ntev yuav ua koj
vida sana. Este mensaje
lub plawv muaj mob tau.
es auspiciado por el ProLi ntawv yuav tau saib
grama de Prevención de la
yus tus kheej kom zoo. Cov Enfermedad del Corazón y
lus qhia no los ntawm
el Derrame Cerebral y la
Minnesota Department of Promoción de la Salud BuHealth, Oral Health, and
cal por el Departamento
Heart Disease and Stroke de Salud de Minnesota.
prevention Programs.
Volume 2, Issue 1,
Oral Health
of Minnesota
Third Graders
Exceeds
National
Average
February 10, 2011 marked
a historical day for the Minnesota Department of Health
Oral Health Unit. Oral health
data collected in Minnesota
for the first time show that the
mouths of state third graders meet and exceed some
national norms but fall short
on others. “The data show
mixed findings,” Dr. Edward
Ehlinger, commissioner of
the Minnesota Department
of Health (MDH) said. “Oral
disease is nearly 100 percent
preventable, and this new
information will help MDH
determine what resources
are needed and where best to
place them to improve oral
health statewide.”
The percentage of screened
third graders whose teeth are
protected by dental sealants is
significantly higher than the
national norm. Those screened
also have fewer untreated
cavities than both the national
average and the U.S. Depart-
Page 7
ment of Health and Human
Services’ Healthy People
target for 2010, according
to the Oral Disease Prevention Unit’s “Third Grade Oral
Health Basic Screening Survey.”
According to screening data,
an average of 64 percent of
state third graders screened
has dental sealants on teeth,
Thoele said. The national
average is 23 percent and the
Healthy People 2010 target is
50 percent. Dental sealants
are thin plastic coatings applied to grooves on chewing
surfaces of back teeth to protect the surfaces from tooth
decay. Sealants keep germs
and food particles out of the
grooves, where most tooth
decay in children and teens
occurs. Sealants and fluoride
work together to prevent tooth
decay.
Data further show that race,
ethnicity and socioeconomic
status are factors in oral
health, Thoele said. Only 49
percent of Hispanic pupils
have dental sealants compared
to 67 percent of non-Hispanic
white pupils. While the prevalence of previous tooth decay
is statistically insignificant
between different populations,
non-Hispanic white students
generally have lower prevalence.
“The burden of oral disease in
Minnesota is disproportionately borne by children from minority populations and schools
with higher proportions of
lower income families,” Thoele
said.
April 2011
Schools with higher proportions of pupils on or qualified for free or reduced-price
lunch programs had increased
rates of fillings and/or untreated tooth decay. In general, schools with 25 percent
or less of students qualified
for these lunch programs have
better oral health than peers
in schools with 75 percent or
more qualified students.
“Results indicate that opportunities exist to strengthen
disease prevention efforts
and to put into motion strategies that lead to treatment
access for specific populations,” Thoele said. “Our new
plan addresses this and other
oral health issues by setting
goals and providing specific,
measurable and time-phased
objectives and activities for accomplishing them.”
Third grade pupils received
oral screenings at 40 randomly
selected public schools with
classroom sizes of ten pupils
or more. Screenings of 1,766
third graders took place in
2010 between February and
the end of May. It involved a
standardized cross sectional
open-mouth survey developed
by the Association of State and
Territorial Dental Directors
and conducted by trained contract and state health department staff and 31 volunteer
dental hygienists. Data analysis lasted about six months.
The dental survey was pretested in three pilot schools.
To view the BSS factsheet,
please visit: http://www.
health.state.mn.us/oralhealth/
pdfs/BSS2010factsheet.pdf
Success
Story:
Volume 2, Issue 1,
Page 8
MDH Convenes
Policy Workshop
With National
Facilitator:
Group Identifies
Children’s Oral
Health As
April 2011
During the workshop participants engage in exercises that determine top policy priorities for the
coming year. The group process revealed strong
support for preventive dental services for all children, especially the very young. The results of the
workshop affirmed to Minnesota oral health stakeholders that putting children’s needs first is a universally accepted concern.
The Policy Tool workshop evaluations show that
every attendee appreciated the utility of the tool,
the steps for establishing priorities, and the facilitation. The evaluations noted the value of medical
and other non-dental input into the discussion. The
Children’s Dental Health Project / CDC Division
of Oral Health Policy Development Tool proved to
be a useful exercise in critical thinking about oral
health policy.
Top Priority
The Policy Tool Workshop, held in St. Paul, Minnesota on November 19, 2010, provided a tremendous
opportunity to bring together oral health advocates
to discuss Minnesota’s political and oral health issues, and to engage in critical thinking about the
state’s oral health policy priorities. Twenty-six individuals attended the half-day conference, representing organized dentistry and dental hygiene,
public health, dental education, advocacy groups
and more.
The workshop uses a two-part Policy Tool developed
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) Division of Oral Health (DOH) and the National Children’s Dental Health Project (CDHP).
Nationally recognized policy workshop facilitator,
Dr. Lynn Mouden, travels around the country to
introduce the Policy Tool, its background, development, and illustrate its successes. The tool supports a facilitated process for groups of oral health
stakeholders to make priority decisions based on
suggested criteria.
Biography:
Lynn Douglas Mouden, DDS, MPH, FICD, FACD
Dr. Mouden is an internationally recognized author and lecturer on the clinical and legal aspects
of family violence prevention and oral health advocacy. He earned his undergraduate degree from the
University of Kansas; his DDS, with distinction,
from the University of Missouri at Kansas City; his
Masters in Public Health from the University of
North Carolina; and completed the US Department
of Health and Human Services Primary Care Policy
Fellowship in 1998.
Volume 2, Issue 1,
Page 9
Congratulations Grant Recipients!
The Oral Health Promotion Program is pleased to announce the recipients of the
Minnesota Department of Health School-based Dental Sealant Grant:
• Children’s Dental Health Services, Rochester
• Community Dental Care
• Just Kids Dental, Inc.
• Madelia Apple Tree Dental
• Northern Dental Access
Thirteen applications were received requesting a total of $236,129.26. Requests
ranged in value from $13,500 to $20,000.00
The Transitional Task Force Meeting
Friday, April 22, 2011.
This meeting will be recorded via conference call and posted to the website.
The Minnesota Oral Health Coalition Meeting
Friday, June 17, 2011 from 10:00 am to Noon. Open to all who are interested.
Register by location: https://survey.vovici.com/se.ashx?s=56206EE32F2E5812.
For more information about the coalition, please visit:
http://www.health.state.mn.us/oralhealth/partnerships.html
First Annual Jim Foran Memorial “Unbelievable” Golf Tournament
to benefit the Oral Cancer Foundation.
•Wednesday, July 27, 2011, Noon Shotgun Start
•Bunker Hills Golf Course,
12800 Bunker Prairie Drive, Coon Rapids, MN
•Box lunch, evening awards ceremony followed by
dinner at the Great Harvest Grill in the
Bunker Hills Clubhouse.
•$145 entry fee per person (golf and dinner)
•$35 (dinner only)
•For more information about the Oral Cancer
Foundation go to: www.oralcancerfoundation.org
or email [email protected]
“My husband, Jim Foran, was diagnosed with Oral
Cancer in 2008. He was a healthy man, never smoked
and was only a casual drinker of alcohol. It all started
with just a small sore in his mouth back by his molars
that would not heal. This started his journey with oral
cancer until summer of 2010 when he passed away at
the age of 58 after fighting a courageous battle against
this disease. Jim had a love for the game of golf and had a habit of
always saying the word “unbelievable” when he truly thought something
was unique. This is why Jim’s friends and I are organizing this golf
event to raise needed funds for Oral Cancer.” ~ Joan Willshire
Minnesota Department of Health, 85 E. Seventh Place, P.O. Box 64882, St. Paul, MN 55164-0882
Visit our website! http://www.health.state.mn.us/oralhealth/
April 2011