CHICAGO, FEB. 24, 2012 –In celebration of National Children’s Dental Health Month, dentists from the American Dental Association (ADA) are slated to tweet children’s oral health tips during a live Twitter chat Tuesday, Feb. 28, noon – 2 p.m. Eastern Time at hashtag #CavityFightrs on Sharecare’s new dedicated oral health Twitter handle @SCGetsMouthy. If you have a Twitter account, you can follow the chat and ask questions of the experts at the hashtag #CavityFightrs. Dentists will tweet the ADA’s responses using the ADA’s Twitter account, @AmerDentalAssn.
ADA spokespersons on pediatric dentistry Mary J. Hayes, D.D.S., and Jonathan D. Shenkin, D.D.S., M.P.H., will represent the ADA during “Chat-n-Chomp: Kid’s Dental Health,” sponsored by Sharecare. Sharecare is an online resource which invites the public to submit health-related questions that are answered by health professionals. The ADA joined forces with Sharecare in 2011 to serve as a leading resource for oral health content on its website, www.sharecare.com. “Chat–n–Chomp” is the ADA and Sharecare’s first Twitter chat collaboration.
“This Twitter chat is an opportunity for us to make a “house call” so to speak,” said Dr. Hayes, who practices in Chicago. “We want to clarify misconceptions and provide tips directly to parents and caregivers on how to keep children’s teeth healthy for life.”
Dr. Hayes and Dr. Shenkin will be joined on the Twitter chat by Dante Gonzales, D.M.D, an orthodontist who serves on Sharecare’s editorial advisory board.
“An infant’s teeth are valuable and need as much attention as adult teeth,” said Dr. Shenkin, who practices in Augusta, Maine. “Infants should visit their dentist no later than their first birthday. Oral health is such an important part of a child’s overall good health, and yet it can be overlooked in young children.”
How to join the chat
To join the chat, search Twitter using the hashtag #CavityFightrs and bring up all tweets containing this hashtag, including questions, answers, retweets, mentions and promotional tweets. All tweets need to have the #CavityFightrs hashtag so participants will easily be able to identify the tweet as part of the Twitter chat. If you do not have a Twitter account, you can create one at www.twitter.com.
The ADA created National Children’s Dental Health Month to raise awareness about the importance of good dental health for all children, youth and teens. For more information, as well as fun activity sheets for children, please visit www.ada.org/ncdhm.
