Services - Projects
Healthy Teeth for Healthy Eating Project
The Healthy Teeth for Healthy Eating Project ran from October 2006 through to March 2008. The Project goals included raising awareness of the widespread problem of oral health inequities in our communities, and to foster the creation and implementation of policy that would enable better access to the care necessary for all members of our communities enjoy oral health.
Healthy Teeth was a grassroots initiative, driven by the vision and experience of community dental hygienists and social service agency staff working with people in the West Kootenay and Boundary regions of southeastern British Columbia. Over the course of the Healthy Teeth for Healthy Eating Project, important connections were made with like-minded individuals and organizations across the province and Canada.
The Project succeeded in engaging a broader group of individuals and organizations in the issue of oral health inequities that exist amongst Canadians. Through publications and training events, the Project increased the understanding of the issue and provided concrete examples of actions that can be taken to improve the lives of Canadians suffering from dental pain and oral disorders.
For groups taking action to improve access to oral health care and reduce oral health inequities, we offer the following downloadable documents and links to useful websites.
Healthy Teeth for Healthy Eating Project Background
- Project Overview: 3 page document provide summarizes the issue and the project; Appendix A has list of individuals and organizations involved in the Project.
Action Resources
- Community Policy Action Paper: provides an overview of the issue, places it in the context of rural community resources and needs, and suggests a wide range of activities that community-based organizations can take to improve the oral health status of individuals.
- Policy Primer: 8 page overview of policy in the context of oral health; includes policy recommendations for various levels of government and organizations that could foster universal oral health.
- Navigation Tools: resources for individuals and social service agencies to better understand the programs that support access to oral health care for those without dental insurance coverage. In doc and pdf versions to support formatting issues.
- Navigation Guide Document (PDF)(Word): 5 page document reviews the various options and how to access them.
- Navigation Questionnaire (PDF)(Word): 1 page document that helps to determine the nature of the oral disorder to support the individual seeking care.
- Navigation Flow Chart (PDF)(Word): 1 page visual representation of the various avenues to care, depending on the individual's circumstances.
- Dental Access Fund: volunteer and donor-run program providing access to dental services in the West Kootenays and Boundary region.
Background and Research Resources
- Primer on Oral Health Inequities: 5 page Healthy Teeth Project document describes the scope and causes of oral health inequities in Canada.
- Improving Access to Dental Services for Low Income Adults in BC: 36 page report released in January 2008 can be obtained from author Bruce Wallace at Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group.
- A Canadian Oral Health Strategy: 53 page 2005 report produced by the Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Dental Working Group (also available in French on their website)
- Canadian Association of Public Health Dentistry: advocates for those with poor oral health or difficulty in accessing needed services. Members represent a diverse array of individuals, backgrounds and professions.
- Canada's Office of the Chief Dental Officer: established in 2004 to improve the oral health status of Canadians and to increase awareness about the prevention or oral disease.
