Community Groups Across North America Urge Increased Resource Allocation for Dental Cavities Prevention on Second Annual World Cavity-Free Future Day

Global campaign underway to raise awareness of dental cavities prevention and demonstrate the value of a cavity-free future

Today marks the second annual World Cavity-Free Future Day (WCFFD), an initiative launched in 2016 by the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future (ACFF) to address the need for greater global awareness of dental caries. Dental caries, when left unaddressed, can lead to dental cavities. Worldwide, 60–90% of school children and nearly 100% of adults have dental caries.1 In Canada, statistics show that an estimated 2.26 million school days are missed each year due to dental-related illness.2 In the United States, a child is five times more likely to seek ER treatment for dental problems than asthma.3 World Cavity Free-Future Day seeks to engage communities across the globe in educating them about the reality of dental caries, and to encourage a move to increase caries prevention resources for those with limited access to dental care and those who have access to care but find it is still largely surgically focused.

Partners and experts who have joined together for World Cavity-Free Future Day believe that a good starting place for cavity reduction is focusing on the importance of brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste for two minutes and reducing sugar intake.

“With the high prevalence of dental decay in North America, World Cavity-Free Future Day reminds us that bringing together the experiences of dental and other health professionals as well as patients is the key to building a successful model for caries prevention,” said Margherita Fontana, DDS, PhD, Professor, University of Michigan School of Dentistry, and Co-Chair, Canada-U.S. Chapter of the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future. “United, we must promote models for prevention to equip dental and related health workforces to deliver preventive caries care and, in turn, invest in longer-term actions that shift both public and industry behaviors.”

To raise awareness, several programs will be taking place in Canada and the United States from October 9-14, including visits from the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® van in the following metro areas. For more details, contact them via  www.colgatebsbf.com.

• New York
• Chicago
• Houston
• Los Angeles
• Atlanta
• Miami
• Charlotte
• Washington, D.C.
• Baltimore

“We believe that collectively we can significantly reduce the burden of caries in at-risk communities in North Americaand help ensure that more children in future generations are cavity-free,” said Robert Schroth, Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Dental Science (College of Dentistry) and the Department of Pediatrics & Child Health (College of Medicine), University of Manitoba, and Co-Chair, Canada-U.S. Chapter of the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future. “Now is the time to bring together patients and their families, oral health and other healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders committed to addressing the problem of dental caries in society so that we can advance interdisciplinary approaches to oral health promotion and advocacy.”

For those interested in finding resources on cavity prevention, more information can be found here: www.allianceforacavityfreefuture.org.

About The Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future
The Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future (www.AllianceforaCavityFreeFuture.org) is a global not-for-profit organization which seeks to promote integrated clinical and public health action to confront the disease burden of caries, fight caries initiation and progression, and, along with a global community of supporters, progress towards a Cavity-Free Future for all age groups. The ACFF was established in collaboration with a worldwide panel of experts in dentistry and public health who share a fervent belief in joining together across professional, geographic, and stakeholder lines, to create a unified global movement dutifully committed to combating caries in communities around the world. The ACFF is sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive Company, which supports improved oral health through its partnership with the dental professional and government and public health agencies.

About Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive is a leading global consumer products company, tightly focused on Oral Care, Personal Care, Home Care and Pet Nutrition. Colgate sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world under such internationally recognized brand names as Colgate, Palmolive, Softsoap, Irish Spring, Protex, Sorriso, Kolynos, elmex, Tom’s of Maine, Sanex, Ajax, Axion, Soupline, and Suavitel, as well as Hill’s Science Diet, Hill’s Prescription Diet and Hill’s Ideal Balance. For more information about Colgate’s global business, visit the Company’s web site at http://www.colgatepalmolive.com.