The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #64405

Jon Roth, CAE, California Dental Association Foundation, 1201 K Street Mall, 8th Floor, P.O. Box 13749, Sacramento, CA 95814, 916 443 3382 ext. 8051, jonr@cda.org and Tom Evans, Educational Message Services, 2300 Alessandro Drive, Ventura, CA 93001.

Despite past successful efforts, dental caries are increasing in segments of the population, making dental caries the single most common chronic disease in children. Jon Roth, Executive Director of the California Dental Association Foundation, whose membership exceeds 20,000 practicing dentists, supports the easy steps to oral health^TM(esoh) program as it aggressively shifts the focus away from restoration to primary prevention. esoh^TM, a complete method of prevention, incorporates an interactive, multimedia teaching approach into outreach. Knowledge is lacking in the public’s understanding of how important oral health is to general health. With so much disease it is easy to get caught up in an endless treatment cycle to ‘fix’ the problem using traditional surgical restorative approaches. In response, esoh^TM supports the new paradigm in oral disease prevention by advancing education, which regards caries as an infectious disease. esoh^TM is a direct outgrowth of the Surgeon General’s 2000 report on Oral Health in America, correlating oral health to overall general health and oral disease prevention. The program, developed in association with the University of San Francisco School of Dentistry and the California Dental Association Foundation, takes prevention to the next level with continued exploration of additional procedures for reducing dental caries. esoh^TM materials outline new disease prevention and assessment protocols, allowing teachers and pari-professionals to gain insight into multi-media elements, collaboration building and evaluation tools. Attendees will acquire knowledge that they can use to help establish the basis for a lifetime of good oral health and overall health.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to:
• 3. Identify contributing factors in cariology.
  6. Develop community-based partnerships united to address oral health education objectives and desired outcomes.
  9. Utilize procedures and protocols to effectively disseminate information in primary prevention.
  12. Incorporate evaluation tools to discover the effectiveness of oral health education in their communities.
  15. Apply the tools received in the session (DVD, VHS, and syllabus) to ensure the dissemination of crucial educational elements regarding oral health needs of children aged 0-5 years.

Keywords: Oral Health, Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.