Dental News - ‘Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives’ event held in Queens, N.Y.

Dental Tribune USA

Fri. 9 November 2012

save

QUEENS, N.Y., USA: Councilman Dan Halloran, Philips and Dr. Bernard Fialkoff presented the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives and the Ad Council’s “Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives” campaign at a free oral health care event for 20 elementary aged Queens children at the Colonial Church’s after-school program in Bayside, N.Y., recently.

Fialkoff, founder of the Fialkoff Dental Study Club, a dental educational group in Queens, learned about the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives’ campaign earlier this year which the Ad Council recently released to Capitol Hill and American dentists. Fialkoff encouraged all dentist members to do likewise at the group’s October meeting. Mike Calia of Philips Oral Healthcare donated 20 Sonicare for Kids electronic toothbrushes. Victor Mimoni, staff representative of Councilman Dan Halloran, instructed the children on proper dental health.

The event began with an introduction on the definition of some basic dental words like cavities and plaque, showing the Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives posters including one that shows that text messaging takes much longer than brushing your teeth and a demonstration on how to brush teeth, at which time the kids gathered around Dr. Fialkoff who showed a model of the human mouth. Mike Calia of Philips showed each child how to use the Sonicare Kids toothbrush that plays music while brushing.

Meghan Fialkoff, community relations director at Fialkoff’s Dental Implant and Periodontics office, and Councilman Dan Halloran’s staff gave out certificates to each student for having participated in the Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives event. An American Dental Association (ADA) poster that displays step-by-step instructions on how to brush teeth was donated to the after-school activity.

Fialkoff said, “It is important to share the knowledge we have gained as adults with our children. They are the future generation and can be helped to avoid problems that we went through in our lives. As a doctor, one of our roles is to help our community, and that’s why I support the American Dental Association, American Academy of Periodontology and The Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives initiatives. ”

The Ad Council and The Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives’ campaign is the first joint national multimedia public campaign for children’s oral health. Launched in August, the campaign aims to educate youth on the importance of brushing their teeth, letting them know it only takes two minutes, morning and evening, to get the job done. The campaign utilizes English and Spanish, TV and radio public service announcements, posters and other audiovisual materials to bring attention to the importance of oral health care in children. The videos can be viewed at www.2min2x.org.

The Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives, www.healthymouthshealthylives.org, is a coalition of 35 leading organizations in the field of oral health including the ADA, Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) and American Academy of Periodontology (AAP). The partnership is committed to improve children’s oral health, and shares the view that no child should be in pain and suffer broader health issues, or endure the social stigma and lack of opportunity resulting from untreated dental diseases and conditions. The coalition’s primary mission is to teach parents and caregivers, as well as the children themselves, to take control of their own health through oral disease prevention.

According to an Ad Council survey, 60 percent of parents with children ages 12 or younger report that they do not regularly help their children brush their teeth or check to make sure they’ve done a good job. Parents also report that, on average, their child spends over two hours each day doing such things as playing video games, texting or watching an online video. Through the campaign’s materials, they let children know that this time could be used to improve their oral health. The Ad Council is well known for being the creators of Smokey Bear’s “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires” and McGruff the Crime Dog’s “Take a Bite Out of Crime” public service announcements.

(Source: Fialkoff Dental Study Club)

To post a reply please login or register

Queens, N.Y., dentists prepare for Cuba humanitarian dental trip

NEW YORK, NY, USA: The Fialkoff Queens Dental Study Club, a monthly study club that provides continuing education credits to attending practitioners, is ...

Total Health program helps dentists keep patients healthy from head to toe

NEW YORK, N.Y., USA: It’s no secret that good oral health is vital to a person’s overall health. Now, thanks to a program from Henry Schein, ...

In mouth, smoking zaps healthy bacteria, invites pathogens

NEW YORK, NY, USA: According to a new study, smoking causes the body to turn against its own helpful bacteria, leaving smokers more vulnerable to disease. ...

Brooklyn, N.Y., student receives gift of a healthy smile

NEW YORK, N.Y., USA: Zeb was a promising Brooklyn high school student, but there was something ultimately holding him back. Enduring the pain and shame ...

Oral Health Summit to be held in Maryland

Baltimore, MD, USA: Officials from the Maryland Dental Action Coalition (MDAC) and the Santa Fe Group, along with United States Congressman Elijah Cummings,...

New brush head helps you ‘get hold of oral health’

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif, USA: Procter & Gamble (P&G) had quite a bit of news to share with the media during the recent ADA annual session, and Dental ...

Towards a healthy mouth with [BE YOU.]

Most of us know that proper brushing with toothpaste containing fluoride is the first step in maintaining healthy teeth and gums. Despite this, ...

AGD offers tips on keeping a baby’s mouth healthy

CHICAGO: Parents are a child’s first teachers in life and they play a significant role in maintaining their child’s overall health. In ...

Live webinar: Tongue cleaning in oral health coaching

LEIPZIG, Germany: Conventionally, dental hygiene practices have primarily focused on the removal of biofilm from tooth surfaces to reduce the incidence of ...

Healthy Mouth Movement offers free care to military veterans

SYRACUSE, N.Y., USA: Nearly two in five American adults (39 percent) say they have limited or will delay dental care due to their financial situation, a ...

Education

Live webinar
Mon. 29 April 2024
12:30 PM EST (New York)