This coming Friday, February 12, Representative Scibak, Anthony Boschetti, DMD, and Guisy Romano-Clarke, MD, will be hosting an informational forum about the importance of fluoride varnish and children’s oral health. The event will be held in South Hadley at the Criterion-Rise and Shine Academy (30 Old Lyman Road) from 10am-11am.
Oral health is an essential part of overall health. Dental decay is caused by a bacterial infection in the mouth and is the most common chronic childhood disease. If left untreated, dental disease can interfere with basic life activities, such as eating, speaking, learning and working.
Fortunately, dental disease is almost entirely preventable when kids have regular access to preventive measures such as dental screenings, information about prevention, and fluoride treatments, and appropriate referral to a dentist. Often those most at risk, especially young children, are seen more often by their medical providers, who can provide those services and increase access to care.
Currently, children enrolled in MassHealth are able to receive the fluoride varnish during their annual checkups through their pediatrician, but children in private insurance are not able to receive this treatment. At the forum, Representative Scibak will talk about a bill that he sponsored that will bring private insurers in line with best practices and provide all children in the Commonwealth with access to this effective preventive measure.
The forum will discuss why this treatment is so important, and how you can help Rep. Scibak make this treatment accessible to all children. A demonstration of the simplicity of the fluoride varnish will be provided. Please join us!
-Brittany McDaniel
Oral health is a huge deal to me, thats why I have my own blog dedicated to it. ‘
http://yovia.com/blogs/oralhealth/