The Whole Tooth

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The Whole Tooth Nothing But The Truth

• Presented to you by
• The Ontario Oral Health Alliance

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The Whole Truth

• Presented to you
• _________________
• Insert your coalition here

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Ontario Oral Health Alliance

• Geographic groups
• Hastings
• Prince Edward
• Kingston
• Northumberland
• Ottawa
• Peterborough
• Toronto
• Haliburton
• Lennox Addington
• Halton

• Organizations
• VON
• Public Health Units
• Community Health Centers
• Long Term Care Homes
• Social Services
• Ontario Association for Public Health Dentistry
• Dental Professionals
• General Public

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Oral Health Defined

• A state of the oral and related tissues and
  structures that contributes positively to
  physical, mental and social well-being and the
  enjoyment of lifes possibilities, by allowing
  the individual to speak, eat and socialize
  unhindered by pain, discomfort or embarrassment.
  
• Canadian Dental Association httpwww.cda-adc.ca
  

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Our Vision

• A system that allows for equitable
• dental care for all Ontarians

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Our Collective Mission

• To advocate for a continuum
• of oral health for everyone
• Oral Health Promotion
• Disease Prevention
• Timely Access to Care

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Strategic Actions

• Creating awareness
• Educating general public
• Providing limited interim access to services
  (band-aid solution)
• Influencing government policy to improve access
  to services

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Todays Objective

• To raise awareness that

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The Mouth is part of the Body!
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Inequities exist in our system
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Improving access to oral care is a priority!
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Background Information

• One third of residents of Ontario DO NOT see a
  dentist on a regular basis (Matear D, Locker D.
  Oral disorders, systemic health, well-being and
  the quality of life. Community Dental Health
  Services Research Unit. Faculty of Dentistry,
  University of Toronto 2000)
• Barriers exist that prevent many people in our
  communities from accessing dental care
• Cost is the most common serious barrier

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Inverse Care Law

• Individuals with the greatest need for
• services will be those with the least
• ability to pay for services.
• Webb E. Children and the inverse care law. BMJ
  1998 3161588-1591.

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Inequalities in Oral Care

• 52 of Canadians and 60 of Ontarians have
• some form of dental insurance
• BUT
• Not all insurance plans are created equal
• Matear D, Locker D. 2000

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What Is Available For Ontarios Children?
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Dental Care for Children

• Children (up to age 13) from low-income
  families
• Urgent dental treatment (Health Unit)
• Children (up to age 18) who are dependents of
  Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support
  Program recipients
• Basic dental treatment

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What Is Available For Ontarios Adults?
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Dental Services for Adults

• General Public
• No government program is available
• Ontario Disability Support Program recipients
• Basic care
• Ontario Works recipients
• Discretionary coverage only that may include
• Emergency care
• Preventive care (expectant mothers)

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A Serious Gap Exists for

• Adults Families earning minimum wage (including
  those with partial insurance)
• Older Adults

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The problem

• Unresolved dental issues lead to a host of
  problems
• Physical
• Psychological
• Social
• Economic

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Affects Everyone

• Children Youth
• Adults
• Older adults

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Affect On A Child

• Pain infection
• A failure to thrive (Matear D, Locker D. 2000)
• Negative impact on healthy development
  readiness to learn
• Long term impact on school success success in
  life!

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Early Childhood Tooth Decay Graphic used with
permission from the Halton Region Health Unit
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For Want of a Dentist

• Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a
  toothache ...
• a routine, 80 tooth extraction might have saved
  himWashington Post, Wed Feb 28, 2007

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An Adults Story

• Jason Jones
• A mouthful of decayed teeth
• Unable to eat solid foods and
• Unable to find employment

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Toronto Star, Feb 10, 2007
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Case Study Of An Older Adult

• Maureens story
• Fixed income
• Problems chewing (eating properly) and
  socializing
• General health compromised

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Gum Disease
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The Lack of Access to Oral Treatment Care
An Economic Burden on Ontarios Society
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A clear Need For Action

• Its expensive.
• But its expensive not to do it
• As stated by Minister Meilleur, Ontario Minister
  of Community and Social Services (February 11,
  2007, Toronto Star)

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Whats Being Done Now?
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Some Examples

• Chief Dental Officer of Health (i.e. National
  Survey)
• Coalitions partnerships
• Probono work (cannot rely on volunteers to fix
  the problem)

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The Toronto Star War on Poverty Series (2007)

• Why is he out of work Feb 10
• Readers respond to a mans plight Feb 11
• Man amazed by dental care offers Feb 13
• Price tag to fix smiles 2M Feb 22
• Health minister silent on dental care Feb 23
• Plunged into darkness April 28
• He has a new smile system still in decay
• June 23

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Toronto Star Headlines continued

• Dental care should be an election issue, says
  coalition July 3
• NDP set to unveil 100M dental program July 10
• Dental care turns into a hot vote issue July 11
• Liberals trump NDP dental announcement July 10
• Liberals vow 45M for low-income dental plan
• Sept 5
• Poor to get dental plan Nov 27

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Ontario Government Investment

• Investment of 135 million
• over three years for a
• Dental Program for
• low-income persons

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Recommendations to Government
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Ultimate Goal

• Equitable access to oral care
• for all Ontarians

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Small Steps Forward

• Ontario Government funding
• is a critical first step forward

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Equitable Dental Care for All

• All Ontarians should have FAIR EQUITABLE access
  to PREVENTIVE DENTAL CARE BASIC DENTAL
  TREATMENT

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Equitable Compensation

• FAIR EQUITABLE compensation for dentists must
  be addressed to facilitate FAIR EQUITABLE
  access to services

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OOHAs recommendations

• Ensure ALL children have access to a basic dental
  program
• Offer basic dental services to priority groups
  one at a time
• Pregnant women
• Low income individuals, seniors and families
• Include coverage for children whose families
  have partial
• insurance but are unable to pay the uninsured
  portion

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Alternate Models of Service Delivery

• Include primary oral health care services within
  Ontario
• Community Health Centres
• (existing and soon to be established)

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Continued action from all levels of
government is NECESSARYto guarantee a BASIC
level of oral health for ALL Ontarians.
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The Ontario Oral Health AlliancePartners Shaping
the Smiles of Ontario Everyone Has The Right
To A Healthy Smile