DTA campaign

The Advertising Council has agreed to develop and launch a major oral health public awareness campaign beginning in 2011.

To read more about the Dental Trade Alliance, go to DTA.

During a three-year period, the campaign will focus on educating the general public and, in particular, care-givers about the importance of oral health.

A coalition of more than 20 dental community groups have joined to apply to the Ad Council for the campaign. The Dental Trade Alliance led the effort to develop the coalition.

After extensive conversation with the Ad Council, Gary Price, DTA CEO, presented the idea for a campaign in January 2011 to a meeting of all the dental professional associations. Subsequently, he met with the boards of the ADA and several specialty groups to encourage their participation.

The DTA Board was the first to support the campaign, pledging $1 million dollars for the three-year effort. The ADA and the American Academy of Periodontology followed with pledges of $1 million each. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry pledged $500,000. Ten other groups have pledged support which now totals almost $4 million dollars.

The coalition is called the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives. The ADA and the other partners provided resources to develop the application to the Ad Council. The Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives campaign effort will be coordinated through the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation.

The Ad Council is well known for its public awareness campaigns, which include Smokey Bear, Take a Bite out of Crime, A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste, and campaigns on drunk driving and seatbelt use. The leverage of the Ad Council model is extensive.

The hard cost of the three-year campaign will be approximately $3 million. By coordinating donated advertising space on television and radio and print media, the value of the campaign should approach $100 million.

The partnership will work with the Ad Council in coming months to develop the details of the campaign.

Members of the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives are Academy of General Dentistry, American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, American Academy of Periodontology, American Association for Dental Research, American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, American Association of Orthodontists, American Association of Public Health Dentistry, American Association of Women Dentists, American Dental Association, American Dental Education Association, California Dental Association, Dental Trade Alliance Foundation, Hispanic Dental Association, Medicaid SCHIP Dental Association, National Dental Association, National Network for Oral Health Access, Oral Health America, Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources/Office of Minority Health.

For more information, go to www.dentaltradealliance.org.

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