Colorado Oral Health Plan

A formal action plan for Colorado is designed to improve the oral health of Coloradans and provide strategic guidance to government, health professions, education, business and communities to ease the burden of oral disease in the state.

In the Fall of 2004, the coalition convened a statewide summit of key stakeholders. “Smart Mouths, Healthy Bodies: An Oral Health Action Summit” evaluated the impact of oral disease on the general health of Coloradans. During the summit, participants prioritized oral health needs and desired outcomes. A steering committee completed the work by adding strategies. >>Summit Report

As a result of the work of the summit participants and the steering committee, “Smart Mouths, Healthy Bodies: An Action Plan to Improve the Oral Health of Coloradans” was developed. The plan focuses on six major topic areas. These topic areas, and the related outcomes and strategies, will help guide and direct a strong, unified statewide movement in support of achieving accessible and affordable oral health for all. >> Colorado Oral Health Plan

Recognizing that we are currently facing times that are both challenging and filled with opportunities, Oral Health Colorado is in the process of revising the Colorado Oral Health Plan to focus on developing sustainable solutions to prioritized oral health problems facing Colorado in the coming years.  The process of developing the new plan was begun with an evaluation of the current plan, conducted by Diane Brunson, RDH, MPH, at the University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine.  The evaluation enumerated the many successes that have occurred since “Smart Mouths, Health Bodies” was developed.  The evaluation also pointed out areas that were less than successful, and suggested new areas of focus.  To download a coy of the evaluation, click here.

Development of the new Colorado Oral Health Plan is well under way.  A draft version of the plan will be widely distributed to oral health advocates soon after the first of the year, asking for feedback.  Taking feedback into consideration, a final version of the plan will be available on the OHCO website , and will be distributed to policy makers within the first quarter of 2012.  Stay tuned as OHCO asks you to participate in the Colorado Oral health Plan.