Florida Senate - 2011                            (NP)    SR 2058
       
       
       
       By Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       20-02090A-11                                          20112058__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing March 30, 2011, as “Dentists’
    3         Day on the Hill.”
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association, a statewide
    6  professional membership organization representing nearly 7,000
    7  licensed dentists in this state, was established in 1884 to
    8  advance the public health through professional education and
    9  public advocacy while promoting high practice standards and
   10  improving the professional practice environment, and
   11         WHEREAS, studies show that good oral health may help
   12  prevent heart disease, arterial blockage, stroke, diabetes,
   13  preterm delivery, low-birth-weight babies, and bacterial
   14  pneumonia, and
   15         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association is promoting
   16  “Dentistry: Gateway to Good Health” to emphasize that oral
   17  health is directly linked to a person’s overall health, and
   18         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association has developed
   19  “Mouth Wise,” a dental health education kit for elementary
   20  students designed to give children a basic understanding of
   21  their teeth, mouths, and gums, the importance of preventive
   22  dentistry, and the relationship of preventive dentistry to
   23  overall health care, and
   24         WHEREAS, the Florida Dental Association has also developed
   25  a “Mouth Wise” dental health education kit for middle school
   26  students which teaches the importance of dental health care and
   27  includes information on nutrition and soda consumption, the use
   28  of mouth guards and smokeless tobacco, and oral piercing, and
   29         WHEREAS, in 1996, the Florida Dental Association joined
   30  efforts with the Department of Health’s Volunteer Health Care
   31  Provider Program to create “Project: Dentists’ Care,” a dental
   32  access program that, in 2010, provided care for underserved
   33  adults and children statewide for an estimated $10 million in
   34  donated services, and
   35         WHEREAS, in February 2011 dentists in this state
   36  volunteered dental services for the annual “Give Kids A Smile”
   37  event, NOW, THEREFORE,
   38  
   39  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   40  
   41         That March 30, 2011, is recognized as “Dentists’ Day on the
   42  Hill.”
   43         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   44  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the Florida
   45  Dental Association as a tangible token of the sentiments of the
   46  Florida Senate.