Muskegon County Health Department - Dental Health Promotion

Introduced in August of 2000, the Dental Health Promotion program addresses the growing challenge of access to oral health care for Medicaid recipients and the uninsured. The program educates area youth about the importance of brushing teeth and the impact of nutrition on tooth development. Through promotion, the program aims to prevent dental disease and decay in youth.

For local dental care resources, please click here.

Dental Health Promotion activities include:

Water Fluoridation

Community water fluoridation is adjusting and monitoring fluoride to reach optimal concentrations in community drinking water. National health objectives call for 75% of the U.S. population served by community water systems to be drinking optimally fluoridated water by 2010; currently fewer than 2 out of 3 persons have access to fluoridated drinking water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) profiled the wide-spread practice of fluoridating community drinking water to prevent dental decay as one of the Ten Great Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century.

Community Forums were held on Children's Dental Health Issues in the cities of Whitehall and Montague on February 2l, and 28, 2002. These two cities have well systems which are not fluoridated, and the amount of naturally occurring fluoride in the water is approximately .1 ppm, much lower than the optimal 1.0 needed to reduce dental decay. The Community Forum was used to bring dental education to the public, and to give information about the benefits of water fluoridation. Community dentists spoke in favor of water fluoridation and confirmed the benefits of reduced decay in adults and children. The general consensus was that the public would like more information, and would like to continue the fluoride rinse programs in the elementary schools of Whitehall and Montague.

School Fluoride Rinse Program

Children in grades 1-5 rinse with a 0.2 percent sodium fluoride rinse (bubblegum, grape, root beer, apple or chocolate flavors) for one minute, once a week. The fluoride is mixed and distributed to the classrooms by volunteer parents, who donate approximately 1.5 hours of their time to the program per week. Each participant must have a signed consent form on file at the Health Department to take part in this program and pay an annual fee of $6.50. The fluoride rinse program is conducted in the following Muskegon County elementary schools: Twin Lake Elementary in Twin Lake, Oakridge Lower in Muskegon, Ealy and Shoreline in Whitehall, Oehrli in Montague, Holton, Beechnau and St. Catherine in Ravenna.

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay Social Marketing Campaign

This campaign was created to educate about the ravages of baby bottle tooth decay (bbtd), a severe form of dental decay which affects young children between the ages of 1-3 years-old. Campaign materials included billboards , postcards , radio public service announcements . Funds from community sponsors are solicited to run this five year campaign.

Baby Bottle Tooth Decay Power Point Presentation for Primary Care Providers

A Task Force of the Muskegon Dental Health Coalition developed a Power Point Presentation for primary care providers and staff, to teach how to identify this destructive form of dental decay in the 1-3 year-old population and to teach their patients' parents how to prevent this from happening to their children.

Dental Resource Library

Created for use by teachers, students, and medical and dental professionals in the community, the Dental Resource Library includes videos of all facets of dentistry (prevention for ages 0-5, 6-18, baby bottle tooth decay, sealants, home care basics, periodontal disease and senior care) and brochures on bbtd, brushing, flossing, primary eruption schedule, sealants, oral piercing, tobacco and diabetes. There are teaching aids such as large toothbrush and mouth models to demonstrate brushing, the popular Dudley and DeeDee series of videos, brochures, and coloring pages. To reserve supplies, please call (231) 724-1283.

Collegiate Participation

Dental Hygiene students from Ferris State University and Grand Rapids Community College have helped in community outreach programs since our program’s inception in August of 2000. Events they are especially active in are the yearly Children’s Dental Health event at the Lakes Mall in October and the annual Give Kids a Smile Day event in February. They have created display boards for educating the community, assisted in screenings, assisted in making Toothprints for children, educated parents and children about dental health and developed x-rays, assisted dentists and dental hygienists and placed dental sealants on children. Because of this liaison we have heard that many of the dental hygiene students have a new understanding of public health dentistry and it’s need in the community.

For More Information

The Dental Health Promotion Program is administered by the Muskegon County Health Department, located at 209 East Apple Avenue in Muskegon, Michigan. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm. The program is coordinated by Jackie Balcom, RDH, MEd, who can be reached by phone at (231) 724-1283, by fax at (231) 724-3596, or by e-mail at balcomja@co.muskegon.mi.us .