KY Oral Health coalition

Please join our Planning Team as we work to improve oral health outcomes in Kentucky.

“I’ve got bad teeth… My little boy does too. Big concept around here. Always has been, you work 5 days a week. You work in the coal mines. You work hard. If you get a day off, you aren’t running to the dentist.”  – Kentucky Mom 

“For my son, we brushed them but we didn’t understand the importance of brushing them so early. He had 4 teeth at 2 months. His teeth were pulpy and the enamel didn’t harden. He ended up with 6 caps when he was 3 years old.” – Kentucky Mom

 The powerful quotes above represent some of the concerns that we heard during our focus groups with parents across the state. We have been working with many of you in the past couple of months to collectively plan Kentucky’s Oral Health Literacy Campaign. We have a huge opportunity to bring some big resources into the state to educate parents, health professionals and policy-makers about the importance of oral health.
Thank you to those who came to our July and/or September oral health literacy meetings. We are excited to have an active and engaged group of stakeholders collaborating on a roadmap that sets forth a plan for improving oral health literacy in Kentucky. Our next in-person meeting on Tuesday, October 29th from 2 P.M. to 4 P.M. EST at the training room in the Foundation for Healthy Kentucky Offices in Louisville. We will send meeting materials closer to the date.
We hope to achieve the following objectives at October’s meeting: 
  • Understanding of the oral health needs in our state from our 8 focus groups and health provider survey.
  • Agreement on Kentucky’s “Vision of Impact” and 2 to 3 strategic levers for the literacy campaign to move forward.
  • Development of goals and objectives for our implementation phase funding proposal that is due December 19, 2013.
Meeting Information: 
Who: Calling all concerned parents, citizens, advocates, health professionals, and educators working to  improve the oral health of all people in Kentucky.
Where: Foundation for Healthy Kentucky’s Training room (1640 Lyndon Farm Ct #100, Louisville, KY 40223).
Time: 2 P.M. EST – 4 P.M. EST
Please RSVP to Mahak Kalra at  Mkalra@kyyouth.org by close of business October 18th.  
We look forward to working with you soon!