ADHA Proclaims its Support for National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health

Chicago-May 7, 2003 - Following last week's release of the National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Surgeon General Richard Carmona, the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) proclaims its support and demonstrates its ongoing efforts to improve the nation's oral health.

The National Call to Action was released at the 2003 National Oral Health Conference in Milwaukee. Following the conference, Surgeon General Carmona was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describing the defining issues of his tenure. He said, "The issues that I will be concerned with can be framed in three general areas. That is, prevention, and putting prevention first in all we do. Preparedness, that's ensuring the United States is prepared for any and all hazards it may face, including terrorism and the tools of the terrorist, the weapons of mass destruction. And the last would be closing the gap; that is, narrowing the gap and eliminating health disparities."

ADHA is a member of the partnership that contributed to this publication. "ADHA is pleased to report how its own initiatives complement the actions outlined in this report and looks forward to a continued effort to increase and affect change," said Kimberly K. Benkert, ADHA president.

Oral health was identified in the landmark 2000 Surgeon General's report, Oral Health in America as the nation's "silent epidemic" and the National Call to Action is the comprehensive strategy developed to address the serious public health issues related to oral health.

ADHA recognizes national trends that indicate a crisis, including the shortage of dentists in the U.S. over the next decade. It is projected that the dentist to population ratio will be 52.7 per 100,000 compared to physicians that are 286 per 100,000. The dental workforce is aging with many dentists reaching retirement in the next decade. In addition, the dental workforce is growing at a slower rate in comparison to the population, and tends to be more middle-aged (40 to 55), male and less ethnically diverse.1 Conversely, the number of dental hygiene positions in the U.S. is expected to increase by more than 36 percent between 2000 and 2010.2

Surgeon General Carmona stated that prevention should be the first priority. "The dental hygiene profession clearly plays a role in prevention and closing the access-to-care disparity gap," said Benkert. "ADHA envisions a change in paradigm focused on health promotion and disease prevention."

As licensed oral health professionals, dental hygienists focus on preventing and treating oral diseases-both to protect teeth and gums-and also to protect patients' total health. Clinical dental hygienists work and/or volunteer in a variety of health care settings that reach underserved populations, such public health clinics, hospitals, schools, managed care organizations or nursing homes, in addition to private dental offices.

Access to oral health care is at the core of the 2000 Surgeon General's report on oral health and the newly released National Call to Action. The efforts made by ADHA and dental hygienists across the country prove the relevancy of this strategy.

"Over the years, ADHA has launched numerous community outreach programs, legislative initiatives and public awareness campaigns addressing access to oral health care in local communities and in national discussion," said Benkert. "ADHA has contributed and will continue to contribute to the actions detailed in the Surgeon General's Call to Action strategy."

Additionally, ADHA has promoted professional authority for dental hygienists, who could play a significant role in increasing access to care. To increase the oral health workforce available to treat patients who need care, the National Call to Action describes a shared message:

"State practice act changes that would permit, for example, alternative models of delivery of needed care for underserved populations, such as low-income children or institutionalized persons, would allow a more flexible and efficient workforce. Further, all health care professionals, whether trained at privately or publicly supported medical, dental, or allied health professional schools, need to be enlisted in local efforts to eliminate health disparities in America.3

ADHA is the largest national organization representing the professional interested of the more than 120,000 dental hygienists across the country. Dental hygienists are preventive oral health professionals, licensed in dental hygiene, who provide educational, clinical and therapeutic services that support total health through the promotion of optimal oral health.

For more information about ADHA, dental hygiene or the link between oral health and general health, visit ADHA at http://www.adha.org.

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1 Elizabeth Mertz and Edward O'Neil, Health Affairs, September-October 2000, The Growing Challenge of Providing Oral Health Care Services To All Americans; The current practice model of dentistry, which serves insured patients and those who can pay out of pocket, must be changed to include the rest of the population.

2 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2000.

3 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Call to Action to Promote Oral Health. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. NIH Publication No. 03-5303, Spring 2003.

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