Wrigley Obtains ADA Seal
The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company announced Sept. 25 that its Orbit®, Extra® and Eclipse® sugar-free chewing gums earned the American Dental Association Seal of Acceptance. Orbit, Extra and Eclipse are the first and only gums in the United States to earn the ADA Seal of Acceptance recognition.
“We’re proud to lead the industry by being awarded this important recognition,” said Bill Wrigley, Jr., executive chairman and chairman of the board. “Wrigley has been championing the oral health benefits of chewing gum for nearly 20 years. Now the ADA Seal of Acceptance makes perfectly clear to dental professionals and consumers that chewing Wrigley’s Orbit, Extra and Eclipse sugar-free gums is a convenient and portable way to help maintain and improve oral health.”
The ADA awarded its Seal of Acceptance to Wrigley after a thorough analysis of nearly 20 years’ worth of independent scientific research that demonstrated chewing Wrigley sugar-free gums helped to protect dental health. Both clinical and laboratory studies underwent rigorous review by the ADA’s Council on Scientific Affairs, with assistance by staff scientists and some of its more than 100 expert consultants.
In November, packages of Orbit, Extra and Eclipse featured the ADA Seal of Acceptance.
ADA Updates Amalgam Waste Advice
The American Dental Association (ADA) has updated its best management practices for the disposal of dental amalgam waste to include the use of separators - collection devices installed in dental office plumbing to capture and remove at least 95 percent of solid waste particles before they enter the sewer system.
The use of separators will allow greater recycling and reduce the amount of amalgam, which contains mercury, entering wastewater treatment plants.
Dental offices using ADA best management practices already capture about 80 percent of waste amalgam. Adding separators to that regimen would increase the amount of captured amalgam to at least 95 percent. The additional amalgam captured by the separator would otherwise have been captured downstream by the municipal wastewater treatment plant. However, treatment plant waste is often incinerated; amalgam captured by separators can be recycled.
“Like most people, dentists are committed to protecting the environment,” said ADA Executive Director Jim Bramson, DDS. “By adding separators to their best management practices, dentists have much greater control in their efforts to ensure a healthier environment for everyone.”
NCOHF Launches Toothfairy Campaign
The National Children’s Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF) announced the Sept. 27 launch of the Toothfairy Campaign, a national effort focused on raising funds to provide direct access to oral health education and treatment to the nation’s youngest and most vulnerable children.
“The National Children’s Oral Health Foundation is moving quickly and compassionately to support delivery of comprehensive services to eliminate the silent epidemic of pediatric dental disease,” said Dr. Gordon Christensen, a member of the NCOHF Board of Directors. “I urge every dental professional in America to support the Toothfairy Campaign as we transform children’s pain and hopelessness into healthy smiles and bright, productive futures.”
“The American Dental Hygienist Association enthusiastically supports the Toothfairy Campaign, a fabulous initiative that will bring health and well being to millions of our nation’s at-risk children,” said Jean Connor, RDH, president of the ADHA.
The NCOHF was chartered to respond to the growing need to eliminate dental disease, optimize oral health, reduce student absenteeism, and significantly enhance quality of life and family productivity among the nation’s poorest children. For more information on The National Children’s Oral Health Foundation, call (800) 559-9838 or visit their Web site at www.NCOHF.org
Oral Health America is working with community dental sealant programs to deliver one million sealants by 2010 to children at risk for tooth decay. Today the organization announced that over 600,000 teeth have been sealed so far.
Oral Health America’s Smiles Across America program reaches over 530 schools, and supports oral disease prevention services for almost 90,000 children each year, including the placement of over 170,000 dental sealants. The program has donated over $1 million for disease prevention services since its inception, and has raised over $300,000 for dental treatment so far this year.
The program currently operates in Chicago, Minnesota, Las Vegas, Maine, West Virginia, New York City, and Santa Barbara/Ventura Counties (CA). With funding from Ronald McDonald House Charities, three new Smiles Across America sites will be added in the 2007-2008 school year, including Kids Smiles, Inc., in Philadelphia.
Smiles Across America is made possible with funding from Ronald McDonald House Charities, Patterson Foundation, Cadbury Adams USA LLC, Aetna Dental, 3M-ESPE, Delta Dental of Minnesota, and Northeast Delta Dental Foundation. Dental sealant materials and fluoride varnish are generously provided to Oral Health America’s National Sealant Alliance and Smiles Across America from DENTSPLY International, Pulpdent, 3M-ESPE, Harry J. Bosworth Company, Whip Mix Corporation and Premier Dental Group.
For more information visit www.oralhealthamerica.org.
