Tackling an Oral Health Crisis in Vermont

Work with the WK Kellogg Foundation

Vermont has an oral health crisis—tens of thousands of Vermonters cannot get the dental care they need. However, in 2016, The Vermont Oral Health Care for All Coalition successfully advocated for legislation in the state that will let dental therapists, a provider that would work like a nurse practitioner but for dental care, practice in the state.  

Changing the status quo makes people nervous. While dental therapists are proven to expand high quality oral healthcare to people that go without it, the dental therapy legislation in Vermont faced serious opposition from the state dental association. So, it was critical that consumers and legislators in Vermont  understood the state’s oral health crisis, and exactly how dental therapists could help.

Burness worked with the Coalition to create a full complement of social media and other graphics. One of the most successful was a “Mythbuster” that paired an infographic and brief text to educate Vermonters and legislators about exactly what a dental therapist will do and highlight all of the existing evidence affirming their effectiveness. Messages from the Burness materials were central to the legislative debate and highly effective in telling dental therapy’s story in Vermont.