Not All Heroes are Make Believe

This week, Health Care For All hosted the fourth annual Watch Your Mouth Oral Health Heroes event at Nurses Hall at the State House. The hall was overflowing with supporters of oral health, who were treated to inspirational remarks by a variety of speakers and to honor four very special Oral Health Heroes: Senate President Therese Murray, Representative William “Smitty” Pignatelli, Medicaid Director Tom Dehner, and Dr. Joel Pearlman, Associate Chief Dentist with Tufts Dental Facilities.

Attendees were reminded that dental decay is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease- it is five times more common that asthma. Children with dental disease have difficulty eating, sleeping, and paying attention in school. In addition, dental disease can have significant impacts on overall health. Because oral health runs across so many parts of children’s lives, the speakers at the Heroes event represented many different types of organizations across the state. President of The Oral Health Foundation Ralph Fucillo, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health John Auerbach, Senator Harriette Chandler, Representative John Scibak, and Vice President of the Massachusetts Teachers Association Paul Toner all spoke at the event. Each helped emphasize the importance of oral health to overall health, and the impact of dental disease on daily life activities.

Luckily, when individuals, legislators, and organizations like these join with the dental community to identify and prevent the problem early, children can get off to a healthy start. The honorees this year have made significant strides in keeping Massachusetts children healthy. Our Legislative Honorees were instrumental in passing a landmark bill that will increase access to dental care for children in need. Dr. Joel Pearlman, this year’s Community Hero, has been an instrumental figure in the oral health of special needs individuals in southeastern Massachusetts for more than thirty years. Tom Dehner, Medicaid Director, was a crucial part of the movement to promote access to dental care by improving the MassHealth dental infrastructure.

The radio Public News Service covered the event; you can read and listen to their report here.

To learn what you can do to be a hero for your own community, visit our website and learn how to speak up for children’s oral health: www.WatchYourMouth.org.
Christine Keeves