It appears that the CDC is working indirectly (or maybe directly) with Pew. While the CDC’s Oral Health group hides behind it’s now infamous fluoridation quote, individual members aren’t so good at selling the idea. The CDC’s William Bailey failed, former Oral Health head Bill Maas Failed, another former Oral Health Director, William Kohn now of Delta Dental isn’t so effective either.
Maybe because their own employees can’t sell us fluoridation, even though it is what they are paid to do, the CDC hired a PR Firm to sell us fluoridation and tell promoters how to do it. Hager Sharp put together a “CDC Division of Oral Health Water Fluoridation National Partner Network Webinar” and on February 19,2014 presented it to the New Jersey Dental Hygienists’ Association (Are they trying to instigate fluoridation in NJ?).
This was delivered by the CDC’s Linda Orgain and Shelly Spoeth and Abigail Fredenburg from Hager Sharp. (Spoeth is listed as a CDC employee but she is also an employee of Hager Sharp. I called the phone number listed before hours. She identifies herself as a CDC employee and a contractor for Hager Sharp)
Shelly Spoeth joined Matt Jacob (formerly the Pew fluoridation guru but now pushing fluoridation for the Children’s Dental Health Project, and leading experts in water fluoridation held at the Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington DC. Hager Sharp describes this as “The oral health roadshow continued.” I doubt they used the Pew facilities as a meeting place so I think it’s safe to assume the Pew people were involved.
Hager Sharp’s Abigail Fredenburg, also gave a presentation at the Social Marketing for Public Health Conference on
“Community Water Fluoridation: Using a Social Marketing Approach to Solve a Complex Public Health Challenge”
The following is from Hager Sharp’s Website
Communicating About Community Water Fluoridation
Hager Sharpers Amanda Marr and Shelly Spoeth recently taught oral health leaders from across the country about building a communications plan at the [2014] National Oral Health Conference. Marr and Spoeth have been working on the issue of community water fluoridation for the past two years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Oral Health.
At the conference, Marr and Spoeth teamed with Matt Jacob from the Children’s Dental Health Project to teach an interactive workshop on building communication plans, creating messages, and using social media to reach target audiences.
“Our goal was to provide easy-to-understand tools to help attendees communicate about water fluoridation in their own communities,” said Marr. “We were excited to be able to share our expertise to address this important public health practice.”
The annual conference, held this year in Fort Worth, Texas, is hosted by the American Association of Public Health Dentistry (AAPHD) and the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD). It is considered the premier meeting for dental public health, bringing together more than 800 dentists, dental hygienists, and others interested in dental public health.
The oral health roadshow continued last week as Spoeth joined leading experts in water fluoridation at a two-day meeting hosted by the Campaign for Dental Health. The event was held at Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, DC.;
The following are a few of the slides from
CDC DIVISION OF ORAL HEALTH WATER FLUORIDATION NATIONAL PARTNER NETWORK
WEBINAR
FEBRUARY 19, 2014
by Hager Sharp a Public Relations Firm
They did focus groups in Dallas and Wichita.
CONSUMERS
KNOWLEDGE & BELIEFS
•Basic facts about fluoride, its safety and its benefits are unclear to the general public
•The majority of respondents challenge the safety of CWF due to lack of knowledge from a trusted source; several asked about “side effects” and the cost they incur
•In communities where CWF is an issue or was on the ballot, there was “confusion” about actual facts perhaps a result of so many discussions from both proponents and opponents
DENTISTS
•Preferred Theme 2: “Nearly 70 Years”
–Liked the historical timeframe it showed
–Liked reference to “10 great public health achievements”
–Concerned about attributing loss of teeth to water fluoridation only
–Requested references for research
–Recommending show the difference in tooth decay between communities with and without fluoridated water
–Consumers and water operators also preferred this theme
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WATER OPERATORS
KNOWLEDGE & BELIEFS
•Familiar with CWF, but not all agree with it
•Do not believe fluoride is difficult to add; believe it is difficult to work with
•Do not believe fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral based on how they interact with it
•Do not have good resources for themselves or citizen inquiries
New York State Coalition to Oppose Fluoridation, Inc.
NYSCOF
