City of Crowley Receives Community Initiative Award
Crowley, LA—The City of Crowley received a
Community Initiative Award for contributions made on behalf of community water
fluoridation at the Public Works Committee meeting on June 3rd. Ward Blackwell, Executive Director of the
Louisiana Dental Association, presented the award to members of the Crowley City
Council on behalf of the American Dental Association (ADA), Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) and Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors.
Blackwell, along with other members
of the dental community, commended the City Council on recognizing the benefits
of fluoridated water. The City of
Crowley currently has a fluoridated water system. The Public Works Committee unanimously agreed
to continue fluoridation after hearing evidence from local dentist, Dr. John
Taylor; Karissa Page, Fluoridation Coordinator for the Louisiana Department of
Health and Hospitals Office of Public Health, Maternal & Child Health; and
Emily Davenport with the Healthy Smiles Louisiana Coalition.
The Healthy Smiles Louisiana
Coalition is made up of many local and national organizations that support
water fluoridation. These groups include
the American Dental Association,
American Academy of Pediatrics, and the World Health Organization. To view a list of all those groups in support
of fluoridation and to learn more about the benefits, please visit www.HealthySmilesLouisiana.org.
LDA Members: Help Us Counter Misleading Claims About Fluoridation
As a dentist, you are a respected member of your community. We need people like you to step forward on an important issue. By now I’m sure you are probably aware of the new law that requires larger water systems (with a minimum of 5,000 service connections) that are not currently fluoridated to provide the state Department of Health and Hospitals with an estimate of the costs associated with providing optimally fluoridated water to customers.
As a result of this legislation, we are finding that opponents to community water fluoridation have begun spreading misinformation on the issue. You can find three examples of this activity below. In an effort to counter these claims, we are beginning a “Speakers’ Bureau” of credible local spokespeople (e.g., dentists) to provide the scientific and economic facts supporting our position.
We need your help. We are compiling a database of local professionals who are willing to speak on the benefits of water fluoridation, or are willing to help arrange speaking opportunities for other professionals to address your local groups and other associations such as chambers of commerce, and social and civic organizations such as Rotary and Kiwanis clubs. We will provide all the background materials including talking points, a PowerPoint presentation and handout materials. We simply need willing individuals to help.
Please let us know if you would like to participate as a speaker or if you can arrange speaking opportunities before any local group of influential community leaders. Our communications partners at Creative Communications, Inc. are compiling the database of participants and coordinating speaking opportunities. Please call Randy or Claire directly with questions at 225-763-8988 or e-mail
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for more information. Thanks, as always, for your support.
Welsh Citizen
The Shreveport Sun
The Ouachita Citizen
UPDATE (7/8/08): The
Governor signed SB 312, the LDA's fluoridation bill, and it becomes Act 761 of
the 2008 Regular Session.
Special thanks to everyone who contacted their
legislators, as well as sent messages to the Governor. We can do good things
working together in organized dentistry. It is truly a great day for oral health
for the state of Louisiana.
Watch for fluoridation updates on the LDA
Web site at www.ladental.org!
Fluoridation Highlights ‘08 LDA Legislative Agenda
By: Ward Blackwell, LDA Executive Director
The
ultimate objective of the LDA’s new public affairs campaign that urges
Louisianans to “Tap Into a Healthier Smile” is the passage of legislation that
could bring fluoridated water to virtually everyone in Louisiana.
As
part of the campaign, the LDA’s consultants conducted focus group research to
determine how to best “frame” our message. Though an official report of the research
has not been issued yet, the sessions clearly reinforced the importance of the
messenger’s credibility as one of the most important factors in the success of
any communication to be persuasive.
Your
credibility with your patients is one of the strongest cards in the LDA’s hand,
and the success of this campaign could well be determined by how frequently LDA
members communicate with their patients and legislators. Some key points to
bear in mind are:
• As with so many things, Louisiana ranks near the bottom in community water
fluoridation (CWF) compared to other states. Only about 40% of Louisiana
citizens currently benefit from CWF compared to 64% nationwide.
• The LA Office of Public Health estimates implementing CWF in all
un-fluoridated LA communities with 10,000 or more homes would only cost about
$6.5 million – a tiny amount when the state is reaping near billion dollar
surpluses each year.
• The Centers for Disease Control calls CWF the single most effective public
health measure to prevent tooth decay and one of the 10 greatest public health
achievements of the 20th century.
• Fluoride is a naturally occurring substance; small amounts are present to
varying degrees in all water sources. CWF is simply the adjustment of the
fluoride level in drinking water from that which naturally occurs to the
optimum level to protect teeth.
• All kinds of supplements are added for health reasons to food and drink we
consume: iodine is added to salt, vitamin D is added to milk, folic acid is
added to breads and cereals, etc.
• There are all kinds of precedents for government to mandate activities with
which some people disagree in the name of public health and safety, such as
mandatory immunizations and seat belt laws.
• Every $1 invested in CWF saves roughly $38 in
dental treatment costs. The savings in reduced Medicaid expenditures alone
easily exceed the cost of community water fluoridation. Above all, remember that grassroots lobbying is the
LDA’s most effective form of advocacy. And yes, that means you! So, watch for
alerts from the LDA in your e-mail and respond by using our super-easy
VoterVOICE system to contact your legislator.
If everyone does just a little, we’re sure to have a
successful 2008 legislative session. (3/08)
“Tap
Into a Healthier Smile” Fluoridation Initiative Will Need Grassroots Advocacy
By: Kevin Hayes, J.D., member of the LDA
lobbying team, partner with the law firm of Roedel, Parsons, Koch, Blache,
Balhoff and McCollister
The 2008 Regular Session will begin March 31, 2008,
and with 60 new House members and 18 new Senators, it promises to be a
tremendous educational process as we try and let each new legislator know about
the LDA.
The Louisiana Dental Association and the
American Dental Association have partnered to make a push during the upcoming
session to provide fluoridated water throughout Louisiana. We met early on with the Department of
Health and Hospitals and in conjunction with them, we have produced several public
service announcements (PSA’s) for both radio and television. We have also set up a Web site, www.healthysmileslouisiana.org,
to provide factual information on the fluoridation issue.
The LDA used the time during the Governor’s
first special session to visit with legislators and gauge their interest in
various proposals that may be introduced.
During the past several sessions, the legislature has been very
reluctant to mandates and their impact on local governments. The LDA is trying to balance that concern
with the need throughout this state for fluoride, and its effectiveness in
preventing cavities and dental disease.
The LDA envisions two components of
this legislative initiative. The first
piece will be the enabling legislation, which will authorize fluoridated waters
in communities that currently do not have it.
This legislation will be handled by the House and Senate Health and
Welfare Committees. The second
component of this initiative is the funding mechanism that will move forward
through the appropriations process.
As the session approaches and the
LDA has a lead author and bill number, we will keep you aware of what is
happening so that you can contact your legislators and express your support on
fluoridation. Grassroots will be a
necessary and very important component of this initiative. In the meantime, the “Tap Into a Healthier
Smile” campaign will continue and you can keep up with its progress through the
healthy smiles Web site. (3/08)
LDA Urges
Louisiana to “Tap Into a Healthier Smile!”
By: Ward Blackwell, LDA Executive Director “Tap
Into a Healthier Smile” is the theme for the LDA’s new public affairs campaign
to broaden public, media and governmental awareness of the benefits of
community water fluoridation and lay the groundwork for passing legislation in
2008 that could bring fluoridated water to virtually everyone in Louisiana.
The
campaign is a partnership with the ADA and part of the State-Based Public
Affairs Program initiated by the ADA earlier this year. With ADA funding, the
LDA has hired a leading Louisiana communications firm, Creative Communications,
Inc. (CCI) from Baton Rouge, to direct the public relations aspects of the project.
We’ve also engaged our lobbying firm, Roedel Parsons, et al, in a new, separate
contract to handle the campaign’s governmental relations aspects.
One
of CCI’s initial actions will be to conduct focus groups, as well as statewide
opinion polls to compile data that we expect will confirm public support for
fluoridation. In addition, LDA and CCI distributed candidate questionnaires
during the recent election period to get potential lawmakers to begin thinking
of fluoridated water as a health care solution. The questionnaire also offered
facts regarding fluoridation and is proving to be a valuable tool to help
distinguish which new leaders are more likely to be receptive to the campaign.
As
noted by Claire Rivette, director of governmental relations for CCI and communications
director of the campaign, “There has been great turnover in the legislature,
and it is probably safe to say that a majority of legislators are not
acquainted with our issue. We plan to take advantage of this opportunity to educate
our new leaders and give them meaningful, practical reforms to enact during
their first terms in office. Plus,
Governor-elect Jindal has long supported preventive health care initiatives.”
In
addition, the team is working with a vast network of non-governmental groups
that have an interest (positively and, perhaps, negatively) in this project.
CCI made a presentation to LABI’s Health Care Task Force and asked the
organization support a position statement in favor of our position.
However,
not all groups will be as receptive. That is why LDA members and other dental
professionals throughout Louisiana will be invaluable sources of help.
According
to Rivette, “We hope to work with the LDA to establish a ‘Speaker’s Bureau’ of
local activists/dentists who can speak about the issues to local civic groups.
In addition, we’ll ask our partners to participate in a grassroots/grasstops campaign
of letter writing to media and key elected officials. We also hope to book them
on local television morning shows, radio talk shows and meetings with editorial
boards of local newspapers.”
Furthermore,
the Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) has agreed to fund radio and TV
public service announcements (PSAs) that will run across the state during the
first quarter of 2008 and be produced by our team (DHH gets final approval of
content). The PSAs will refer viewers/listeners to a Web site that can be
accessed for additional information on fluoridation.
The
multi-faceted nature of the campaign makes for a big job that has only just
begun, but the stage appears to be set for possible success. The LDA slogan
“Tap Into a Healthier Smile!” is already getting positive response. And as
Rivette observed, “The time seems right, politically and economically, for
Louisiana to make this decision, and we have a great team of political
professionals, communications experts and dentists who can spread the good
word. If our leaders are serious about improving health care in our state, the
LDA’s strategy to fluoridate all the water systems in the state offers the easiest,
most cost-effective way to save money and see quick results.”
So,
be on the lookout for information and updates about this exciting LDA
initiative. Our members' support is vital and appreciated. (12/07)
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