Andover Townsman, Andover, MA

Opinion

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus
May 15, 2009

Letter: Celebrate National Women's Health Week by speaking up for oral health

Celebrate National Women's Health Week by speaking up for oral health

Editor, Townsman:

Massachusetts has a rich history of leading women. These inspiring women include Lousia May Alcott, who authored Little Women; poet Emily Dickinson, Clara Barton, who organized the American Red Cross; and Susan B. Anthony, who fought tirelessly to secure women's right to vote.

This year, National Women's Health week began on Mother's Day. An important piece of this week is National Women's Checkup Day on Monday, May 11. In honor of these renowned women, and the many other important women in our lives, we need to ensure that our environment allows for new, ground-breaking ideas like the ones above. To do this, we must first make sure that we are healthy enough to be contributing members of society by putting systems in place that grant us all access to important health services, such as prevention and primary care. An important part of the body that is often neglected, and is the gateway to the rest of the body is the mouth.

Oral health is an essential component of these overall health services. For children, poor oral health can interrupt life's most basic activities, such as eating, sleeping, speaking and learning. In fact, 51 million school hours are lost nationally each year due to dental disease. In adulthood, the consequences become more severe. Dental disease is associated with stroke, heart disease, and complications with diabetes. For women, poor oral health is associated with the delivery of pre-term and low birth weight babies.

Here's the good news: dental disease is almost entirely preventable with access to the preventive and restorative care. As a Nurse Practitioner at a school-based health center, I see the Commonwealth's innovative spirit finding ways to connect children and young adults to the services that they need to remain healthy and productive. In turn, once these important basic needs are met, girls are free to follow in the footsteps of other distinguished Massachusetts women such as Clara Barton, Susan B. Anthony, Louisa May Alcott, and Emily Dickinson.

We urge our fellow residents of Merrimack Valley to speak up for oral health in honor of National Women's Health Week, and make sure that everyone is healthy enough to contribute great things to society.

Karen Letourneau

Greater Lawrence Vocational Technical School

The writer is a nurse practitioner at the school's Health Center in Andover, which serves Andover, Lawrence, Methuen and North Andover.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Letter: Celebrate National Women's Health Week by speaking up for oral health
by Anonymous , , Fri May 15, 2009, 02:29 PM EDT
Opinion

Question of the Week
Pictures of the Week
Stocks