Hello to the Oral Health Section!

As the incoming chair of the Oral Health Section, I am looking forward to leading the Section in this time of change. I would like to welcome and recognize our new Section Leadership Team members who continue their terms or began their terms at the end of the November 2010 meeting in Denver. A big thank you is due the outgoing officers as well as those who helped on committees, such as Membership, Awards and the Newsletter. Thanks to outgoing Section Councilors Lynn Bethel and David Cappelli, Governing Councilor Amos Deinard, and Immediate Past Chair Howard Pollick. Thanks also to Newsletter Editor Jay Friedman, Membership Committee Chair Sandie Beebe, and Webmaster Gina Thornton-Evans for their service. A special thank you to Scott Presson for his outstanding service as Section chair. A big thanks is also due to Natalie Hagel for her dedication as secretary. While APHA does much to support our activities, much of the Section’s success is due to the volunteer efforts of our membership.

I am confident that all who attended felt the Annual Meeting in Denver was outstanding! There is more information in this Newsletter on the meeting, the awards received, and the oral health policy we guided through for approval on fluoride varnish. A great job was done by Program Planning Committee Chair David Cappelli, Co-Chair Kathy Lituri, and booth coordinator, Josefine Wolfe, Continuing Education by Gary Podshun, and everyone else who organized the outstanding invited sessions, helped with the awards ceremony, the business meetings, the booth, the new policies, and served as moderators.

The oral sessions and posters were very high caliber, and we thank the authors and presenters for making the program stimulating and informative. The oral sessions covered a wide range of topics, including oral health report cards, social justice in access to care for people with HIV, food stamps in the purchase of soda, social justice and oral health, theoretical models used in the Oral Health Disparity Centers, oral health provisions in health care reform legislation, prevention programs in Colorado, advances in health literacy, and improving access.

Congratulations to Jennifer Sanders for receiving the Anthony Jong Pre-Professional Award, and to Cas Evans for receiving the John Knutson Award. The Section dinner that followed at Rialto Cafe was a memorable evening for all. Thank you also to our sponsors whose generosity allowed us to hold our awards ceremonies: Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Omni, a 3M ESPE company.

Our next Annual Meeting will be in Washington, D.C., from Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2011. Kathy Lituri is heading up the Program Planning Committee, and I am confident we will have another outstanding scientific program. I hope you have submitted an abstract. Make plans now to join us in Washington!

With the changes in Congress, I am sure many of you are closely watching the appropriations process. It will be difficult to sustain the gains we have made in recent years and to secure funding for the oral health programs in the Affordable Care Act. APHA continues to enhance their advocacy activities, while attempting to be more strategic. You can receive APHA Legislative Alerts by e-mail for selected issues by signing up on the APHA website. I hope you take a few minutes to use the APHA system to write e-mail letters to your senators and representative. You can start with the suggested letter or the letters, which are easily customized as desired, e.g., to include an oral health aspect. We need your voice for public health and oral health! See http://www.apha.org/advocacy/.

For those of you new to the Oral health Section, we welcome your involvement in the Section’s activities, whether on a committee or by running for an office. And for those who have already been through a leadership experience, give some thought to getting involved again. Feel free to contact me or any member of the Section leadership.

Following is our leadership roster for the 2010-2011 year.

Best wishes for a wonderful, successful 2011.

Oscar Arevalo