 The Delaware Oral Health Coalition has a new Chair for 2010-2011 year, Dr. Gary Colangelo, a retired dentist residing in Rehoboth Beach. Dr. Colangelo follows the strong leadership of The Honorable Stephanie Ulbrich a Public Member from New Castle County. Dr. Colangelo has been a dentist for 40 years and is currently an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Maryland Dental School. He is Vice President of Maryland Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped, a Board Member for the American Association of Dental Consultants and a Senior
Advisor and Co-Founder, Prevent Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness (P.A.N.D.A.) Mid Atlantic Coalition.
Dr. Colangelo has received numerous honors and has experience in military and hospital-based dentistry, public health, dental education and dental insurance. He has published over 70 professional articles or abstracts and has made over 160 presentations during his career. He strongly believes that people cannot be healthy without good oral health. For example dental decay can hinder kids’ ability to learn and advance in school while untreated dental disease in adults can complicate pregnancies or make the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease more difficult. The most effective way to improve oral health is through disease prevention which is the primary focus of the Delaware Oral Health Coalition.
We would like to welcome Dr. Colangelo into his new leadership role and are excited about the future of DOHC.
La Iglesias de Dios de Maranatha in Concorde Delaware
The Delaware Oral Health Coalition volunteers where on site brining smiles to over 400 families this past Saturday from 9-2 at La Iglesias de Dios de Maranatha in Concorde Delaware. This year DOHC Smiles teamed up with the Sussex Child Health Promotion Coalition to bring information on Healthy Lifestyles and Preventive services for families!
Each year Pastor Israel Figueroa and his volunteers put together a very comprehensive Community Health Fair for the Latino community. The purpose is to provide education and awareness to the community on health related issues while providing much needed screenings services. The DOHC hosted a table at the site and was able to interact with over 150 families directly. A bilingual volunteer was present to interpret Information on oral health care. Youth were asked questions about good oral hygiene practices and if they answered the
Questions they received an incentive sticker and a tooth brush. Over 100 tooth brushes for 6-16 year old children was handed out along with 55 Kits for women and dads who had a child under three years of age in their home. Of the participants polled at the table over 90% of them do not nor have received oral health preventive care for themselves or their children. They cited finances, language, access and knowledge of services as reasons behind the lack of preventive care. DOHC is committed to finding ways to overcome these barriers to ensure all Delawareans have a reason to SMILE! |
Over 2000 children and families visited some 23 health booths at the Delaware State Fair “Healthy Kids Day,” sponsored by Nemours Health and Prevention Services. The Health Fair was a key part of the Healthy Kids Day portion of the fair and was coordinated by the Sussex Child Health promotion Coalition that included booths from both local statewide health vendors. These vendors like DOHC provided information and screenings to families. The Oral Health Coalition representative Mrs. Cheryl Rash was the DOHC educator for this event and gave children of all ages tooth brushing lessons and a new tooth brush courtesy of the Delaware Department of Public Health Delaware Oral Health Program to take home with them. Over 1,000 items were handed out to children and information given to parents on the importance of good oral health care.
