The Marshall University/West Virginia Oral Health Coalition has received the 2018 Smiles Across America® Program Champion Award from Oral Health America (OHA) for its work in advancing oral health for low-income children in rural West Virginia and its contributions to the OHA webinar series.
The Marshall University/West Virginia Oral Health Coalition was a founding partner of Smiles Across America, which helps address, and educate children and their families on, the importance of oral health care. It was also instrumental in establishing the West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families Coalition, a nonprofit that brings together organizations and state agencies in a collaborative effort to improve the health of West Virginia children and families.
“Since 2006, Marshall University/West Virginia Oral Health Coalition has partnered with OHA to provide service to nearly 100,000 under- and uninsured children in rural West Virginia,” said Beth Truett, president and CEO of Oral Health America. “As partners in our Webinar Series, they provide Continuing Education Credits to oral health professionals, nurses and social workers, helping to increase attendance at our 20 annual Webinars from 30 to 150 attendees. We are honored to present them the first Smiles Across America Program Champion Award.”
The Marshall University/West Virginia Oral Health Coalition is a community outreach affiliated with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and is dedicated to improving the oral health of all West Virginians.
“The coalition has broken down silos by bringing together local resources, such as schools and dentists, to do things that neither could do alone,” said Richard Crespo, Ph.D., is a professor in the department of family and community health at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and director of school’s oral health program.
