National Maternal and
Child Oral Health Resource
Center
This and past issues of the Oral Health Alert: Focus on Head Start are available at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/alert/archives.html.
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1. A Way with Words: Guidelines for Writing Oral Health
Materials for Audiences with Limited Literacy
This tip sheet provides ideas to help those who produce oral health
educational materials make the materials easy for everyone to
understand. It offers suggestions for how to choose words; set an
appropriate tone; and craft sentences, paragraphs, lists, and headings
that communicate most effectively with people with limited literacy.
Suggestions for how to design documents and how to present unfamiliar
terminology are also presented. A list of resources for more
information is included.
Contact: HRSA Information Center, P.O. Box 2910, Merrifield, VA 22116.
Telephone: (888) ASK-HRSA (275-4772); (877) 489-4772; fax: (703)
821-2098; e-mail: ask@hrsa.gov; Web
site: http://www.ask.hrsa.gov.
Document code: MCH00243.
Available at no charge; also available at
no charge from the Web site at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/PDFs/AWaywithWords.pdf.
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2. Alaska–State Oral Health Collaborative Systems Grant:
Final Report
This report summarizes the accomplishments of Alaska's State Oral
Health Collaborative Systems grant. The report outlines three specific
program activities, including initiating a professional services
contract for dental assessments for children; implementing an oral
health curriculum (Cavity Free Kids) for Head Start programs; and
hiring a statewide dental sealant coordinator to work collaboratively
with tribal, community health center, and private dental programs to
increase availability of dental sealants in schools with high
percentages of children from families with low incomes. The report also
includes the following five attachments: (1) a series of oral health
fact sheets; (2) a summary of the 2004 and 2005 dental assessment
projects; (3) a follow-up report from the 2005 training on Cavity Free
Kids for Head Start programs; (4) the initial action plan from the
Children with Special Health Care Needs Oral Health Forum held on
Febuary 23, 2007, in Anchorage, Alaska; and (5) a summary from the
dental sealant program inventory. [Funded by the Maternal and Child
Health Bureau]
Contact: Georgetown University, Maternal and Child Health Library, Box
571272, Washington, DC 20057-1272. Telephone: (202) 784-9770; fax:
(202) 784-9777; e-mail: mchlibrary@ncemch.org;
Web site: http://www.mchlibrary.info.
Available at no charge from the Web site. http://www.mchlibrary.info/MCHBfinalreports/docs/H47MC02094.pdf.
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3. Final Summary Report: Tennessee Head Start Oral Health
Forum
This report summarizes the Head Start oral health forum held on May 17,
2007, in Nashville, Tennessee. The purpose of the forum was to develop
a statewide plan of action to eliminate or reduce the oral health
problems facing young children and their families in Tennessee's Early
Head Start and Head Start programs. Background information and a
summary of the planning committee's activities are provided, including
the development of a needs-assessment survey, an agenda, a participant
list, small group discussion topics, and a budget. A discussion of the
positive and negative aspects of the forum and next steps are also
presented. Attachments include an informational flyer, the forum
registration form and a needs-assessment survey, the planning committee
meeting minutes, the forum agenda and speaker biosketches, and the
resulting state plan. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]
Contact: National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center,
Georgetown University, Box 571272, Washington, DC 20057-1272.
Telephone: (202) 784-9771; fax: (202) 784-9777; e-mail: info@mchoralhealth.org; Web
site: http://www.mchoralhealth.org.
Available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.mchoralhealth.org/PDFs/TN_HSOHForumReport.pdf.
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4. Maine Oral Health Improvement Plan: A Framework for
the Improvement of State and Local Policies for Oral Health
This plan provides a framework for the improvement of state and local
policies for oral health and increased public awareness of the
connection between oral health and overall health and well-being. The
plan is organized into the following four action areas: (1) change
perception and increase awareness, (2) increase prevention and expand
access, (3) improve service delivery, and (4) expand the dental work
force. The plan also identifies Early Head Start and Head Start staff
and families as key players and partners. Strategies include supporting
and promoting training, resource development, and collaborative
relationships to integrate oral health promotion and disease prevention
activities in Early Head Start and Head Start programs. A glossary and
guidelines for state and territorial oral health programs are included.
[Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]
Contact: Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Oral Health
Program, 11 State House Station, Key Plaza, 286 Water Street, Fifth
Floor, Augusta, ME 04333. Telephone: (207) 287-2361; (800) 698-3624
x2361; (800) 606-0215 (TTY); fax: (207) 287-7213; Web site: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohdcfh/odh.
Available at no charge from the Web site at http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/bohdcfh/odh/documents/MEOralHealth_Plan07.pdf.
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5. In Vitro Protection Against Dental Erosion Afforded by
Commercially Available, Calcium-Fortified 100 Percent Juices
This study compared the pHs and titratable acidities of commercially
available 100% juices with and without calcium fortification and
compared the extent of enamel and root surface erosion after juice
exposure. The authors found that fortifying apple, orange, and
grapefruit juices with calcium prevented enamel erosion and decreased
root surface erosion. They also found that fortifying white grape juice
with calcium decreased enamel erosion, but not root surface erosion.
They observed that mean lesion depths were greater in root surfaces
than in enamel surfaces after exposure to unfortified orange juice and
to all fortified juices. The authors conclude that calcium
fortification of 100 percent juices can prevent enamel surface erosion
and decrease the severity of root surface erosion associated with
prolonged exposure to 100 percent juices.
Davis RE, Marshall TA, Qian F, Warren JJ, Wefel JS. 2007. Journal of
the American Dental Association 138(12): Abstract available at http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/short/138/12/1593.
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