Wisconsin Dental Association advises parents: 'Baby Teeth Matter' into early teens

Contact: Carol S. Weber, APR, Director of Public Relations, 414-755-4108 (direct); 414-315-9321 (cell after normal business hours), cweber@wda.org

WEST ALLIS, WIS. – The 3,000-member Wisconsin Dental Association wants parents and caregivers to know baby teeth matter, because children can keep them – especially the back teeth or molars they chew with – until their early teens.

This is the main message of a new 30-second “Chew On This” television spot that began airing statewide on cable and over-the-air stations in February – National Children’s Dental Health Month. The spot, filmed in the Milwaukee Public Museum’s dinosaur exhibit, kicks off year two of the WDA “Baby Teeth Matter” early childhood dental health public awareness campaign.

“Tooth decay is a serious and transmissible disease that can spread quickly and lead to infection without proper precautions,” explains WDA President Dr. Steven Stoll, a general dentist in Neenah, Wis.

National studies show early childhood cavities, which are preventable, are four times more common than asthma and seven times more common than hay fever among America’s children. More than 51 million school hours are missed annually due to dental problems.

According to a recent survey conducted by the state Department of Health Services, 55 percent of third graders in Wisconsin have had cavities. Twenty percent had untreated tooth decay at the time of the study.

To spread the Baby Teeth Matter message even further, the WDA is hosting a share-this-spot contest on its Facebook page. Followers who share the “Chew on This” TV spot with family and friends through Feb. 29 will be entered in a random drawing for sports memorabilia signed by Green Bay Packer wide receiver Donald Driver who is known for his dazzling smile.

This is the latest effort by the state’s leading dental association to spread important oral health messages via social media and it builds on a successful Inside the Huddle TV/Baby Teeth Matter Facebook contest that ran for 16 weeks during the last regular football season.

“Oral health is critical to overall well-being,” adds Stoll. “The WDA is using every tool in our communications arsenal to promote the physical, social and economic value of good dental health and the importance of establishing personal oral hygiene habits in children as young as 1.”

For more information on the WDA, call 414-276-4520, visit our WDA.org website or find us on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube.