FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2011
CONTACT
S. Beth Nolan
Voices for Vermont’s Children
(802) 229-6377
The Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition announced today the launch of a comprehensive website designed to build a statewide consumer voice and raise public awareness of the need for better access to affordable oral health care. Available at www.vtoralhealth4all.org, the site provides Vermonters with an opportunity to share their stories about what lack of access to dental care means in their lives, and to learn more about access to and the status of oral health care in the state.
The Vermont Oral Health Care for All site is the only Vermont website that has all oral health resources in one location, and is intended to be a resource for everyone, from the individual having difficulty finding appropriate dental services, to professionals and policy makers. The site features a listing of local dental services and resources, a comprehensive list of state and national oral health data and research, up-to-date news from Vermont and across the country, links to other organizations and associations working on oral health in Vermont and beyond.
Beth Nolan, Outreach Coordinator for the Coalition, said, “We hope everyone with an interest in oral health care will use the website. We believe it will be a valuable tool in our statewide effort to raise awareness of this issue and give Vermonters the information and voice they need to change the way we deliver oral health care in our state.”
One unique feature of the site is that it provides Vermonters with a place to tell their stories. Vermonters like Christina, a 22-year-old from Rutland County who rarely smiles. She doesn’t want anyone to see the gaps in her mouth where four badly decayed teeth were pulled two years ago. She takes over-the-counter medicines to dull the throbbing pain in another decaying tooth when it becomes too severe. Mostly she just lives with it, though. “If you are dealing with pain every day, you get used to it,” she says.
Christina is not alone. Thousands of Vermonters do not have access to preventive or routine dental care. For them, treatment is out of reach, either because they can’t afford it or because they cannot find a dentist where they live. As a result, many miss work and school. And if their poor oral health is obvious, like Christina’s, it can lower their self-esteem, affecting their job prospects and social interactions.
The Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition’s mission is to build a statewide consumer voice for oral health care and raise public awareness of the need for greater access to affordable dental care. It is made up of organizations including consumer groups, children’s advocates, health providers, organized labor, senior advocates, health clinics and other organizations who work with Vermonters suffering from the lack of access to affordable dental care. The Coalition is working to address this systemic problem through giving Vermonters a voice in the care they receive, building awareness about the importance of oral health to overall health, and exploring innovative solutions to provide greater access to all Vermonters for the dental care they need.
