Making oral health the next obesity: Adapting successful strategies from obesity to oral health

For the past decade oral health has been off the radar screen of California politicians. Using the release of the 2006 California Smiles Survey, which showed that California children had more dental disease than any other state except Arkansas, the Dental Health Foundation, along with the Oral Health Access Council (OHAC), developed and implemented a strategy for catapulting oral health to a front burner issue.

First, legislative members and staff were profiled on receptivity based on their earlier support of public health issues and personal experiences. Members and staff were ranked from Champions to “not on my life.” The rankings were used to gauge the level of education provided and our commitment to working with them. Education opportunities were one-on-one meetings, briefings, workshops, and participating in legislative hearings.

However, policy makers do not live in a vacuum, so the plan is far reaching, consisting of:

• Creating synergy between public foundations and other funders; the media; and policy makers-- educating each set about oral health ; • Developing educational tools, activities and opportunities; • Associating oral health with general health; and • Creating partnerships with health, educational, and human services organizations.

Oral health related issues have risen in seriousness of debate, importance and severity of problem, and interest by legislators in authoring bills. In the last eighteen months oral health related issues have gone from “not on the policy radar in the Capitol” to one of the five big health issues for legislators and the health public policy community.