In their Maine Compass column published on May possibly 20, Rep. Lori Gramlich and Dr. Steve Mills make a powerful scenario for passing and funding L.D. 1501, An Act to Defend Oral Health and fitness for Kids in Maine. I will not repeat their great arguments listed here, other than to endorse all they say about our options to strengthen oral overall health in Maine with quite a few significant bills, which include L.D. 996, to prolong MaineCare’s dental protection to grown ups. That these payments have acquired unanimous committee assistance is noteworthy. They need to also be handed and funded.
I want to broaden on the provision in L.D. 1501 to restore an oral overall health coordinator placement inside the Maine CDC, a key position for a condition community overall health company. This particular person will deliver the important leadership and help to the College Oral Health Plan, highlighted by Rep. Gramlich and Dr. Mills.
In addition, the occupation also indicates determining gaps, getting state and federal resources, forging partnerships within just and exterior of authorities, performing to resolve health and fitness inequities, addressing the interactions involving long-term diseases and oral overall health, and collaborating with other partners to produce and develop Maine’s oral wellness workforce.
Maine wants a state-stage, completely-functioning dental community wellbeing system with a dedicated software coordinator to serve as a useful resource for evidence-primarily based preventive community wellbeing ways and ideal practices in applying neighborhood-degree packages, and to support in producing community health policy.
As the very last particular person to hold that place, I know the opportunity it presents. I can increase that the Maine CDC’s Oral Health and fitness Program was significantly below-resourced even prior to the software was downsized and effectively eliminated in 2015. Restoring the oral wellbeing coordinator place is a important move in rebuilding that resource, and this is the time to do it — because oral overall health is health.
Judith Feinstein
Hallowell
Relevant Stories
Invalid username/password.
Make sure you check your e mail to confirm and finish your registration.
Use the variety down below to reset your password. When you’ve submitted your account e mail, we will mail an e-mail with a reset code.