The Oregon Oral Health Coalition and the Oral Health Funders Collaborative are leading the effort to develop a new Oral Health Strategic Plan for Oregon.

The DRAFT Strategic Plan for Oral Health in Oregon contains three key focus areas:  Prevention, Workforce, and Infrastructure.  It incorporates Healthy People 2020 oral health objectives, a set of national benchmarks developed by the Centers for Disease Control and the Health Resources and Service Administration, Oregon’s Healthy Future:  A Plan for Empowering Communities, and the 2013 Oregon Dental Association’s Oral Health Act Outline.

To insure that the voices of ALL Oregonians are heard in developing this important plan, we are holding meeting throughout the State where oral health stakeholders can provide input important to their communities.

Please join us when we come to your community!

Below is a list of the cities we will be visiting over the next several weeks.  Logistical details are finalized and we have added another meeting location in Hood River!

This is not an invitation only event….please let others you know of with an interest in oral health!

Oregon’s 2014-2020 Oral Health Strategic Plan Input Schedule.

Strategic Plan on Water Fluoridation (the report contains no mention of dental fluorosis).

PAGE 14: PRIORITY AREA 2: PREVENTION AND SYSTEMS OF CARE

Evidence-based behavioral and policy interventions will reduce the toll of oral diseases and achieve a high lifelong standard of oral health for all Oregonians, regardless of income, background or location.

In this plan, prevention generally describes community-based, community-wide strategies, as opposed to clinical prevention activities that typically occur in a dental chair.

Water Fluoridation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifies optimal community water fluoridation as the most cost-effective method of improving public oral health. Studies show that fluoridation reduces tooth decay by about 29 percent among children ages 4 to 17. Currently, Oregon ranks 49th out of 50 states in access to fluoridated water.

Fluoridation has its greatest benefit among disadvantaged populations who are most at risk for dental disease, many of whom may be difficult to help by other means.

A study jointly led by researchers from Oregon Health and Science University and University of Washington reports that Oregonians living in unfluoridated communities are more likely to visit emergency rooms for nontraumatic dental problems. Although water fluoridation obviously faces major hurdles in Oregon, its efficacy makes it crucial both to continue promoting fluoridation in unfluoridated communities, and to maintain existing programs.

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