Oral Health

Improving Equitable Access to Oral Health in Impacted Communities through Strong Partnerships

Tooth decay or dental caries is a silent epidemic affecting children of all ages. If left untreated at an early age, it leads to pain that interferes with daily life, school absences that undermine learning key skills, and lifelong dental problems that compromise overall health. Although almost entirely preventable, tooth decay continues to be the most common chronic childhood disease in the United States. In San Francisco, rates of dental caries from kindergarten screenings range from 40% to almost 60% in some neighborhoods among African American, Latino/a and Asian American children, with Asian American children experiencing the highest rates of dental decay. The communities at highest risk include linguistically isolated families whose first language is not English, immigrant families, Medi-Cal eligible or enrolled children, and children with special health care needs. 

CavityFree SF, coordinates a city-wide effort which seeks to reduce disparities and improve the oral health of children in San Francisco by increasing access to quality care and services, integrating oral health into overall health, and promoting oral health among high- need communities and neighborhoods. In San Francisco’s District 3, the NICOS Chinese Health Coalition formed in 2015 and continues to convene the Chinatown Task Force on Children’s Oral Health (CTFCOH), one of three neighborhood- based collaborations addressing oral health disparities in children of color. 

With funding from the SF Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax (SDDT), CTFCOH aligns with all the core values of the SDDT, while is a strong example of building strong collaborations and partners that increase capacity and effectiveness, specifically in improving outcomes related to water and sugary drink consumption which are directly connected to dental caries. 

During the fiscal period of July 2020 to June 2021: 

• Funding from SDDT helped support partial staffing costs of four positions for CTFCOH in program management, coordination, and health education. All the staff identified as Chinese. 
• CTFCOH engaged 1,879 community members in planning, implementation, or evaluation of program activities. A vast majority of these community members (99%, n=1,859) identified as Asian. CTFCOH staff conducted in-person outreach at seven different community events and promoted oral health and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption awareness to a total of 1,778 community members. 
• CTFCOH provided targeted education to 165 community members via two virtual oral health workshops and one virtual “Less Sugar, Sweeter Life” workshop.

CTFCOH also aired a public service announcement about children’s oral health and the five key preventive messages on Chinese radio stations on an ongoing basis, as well as developed a set of corresponding print ads.