Thousands of Vermonters go without needed dental care every single year — in 2011 and 2012, nearly 100,000 people didn’t get care.

Fifteen years ago this spring, Surgeon General David Satcher issued a call to action to address what he called America’s “silent epidemic”–the growing incidence of dental disease in this country.

This commentary is by Michelle Fay, who is director of the Vermont Paid Sick Days Campaign and a former state representative from St. Johnsbury.

This commentary is by Dr. Peter Galbraith, who practiced dentistry in Vermont, served as a public health official in New York, Connecticut and Vermont, and was an adviser to several federal agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration. He lives in South Burlington.

Official Poverty Measure Fails to Provide an Accurate Assessment of Anti-Poverty Programs

Every year the Annie E. Casey Foundation releases a Kids Count report that shows how many American children are living in poverty, using those numbers to advocate for anti-poverty programs such as food stamps, housing subsidies and heating assistance.

Advocates and lawmakers are hoping the House version of an earned sick-time bill will sway skeptics and tip the scales in their favor.

A large coalition of health and consumer groups is backing a plan to improve access to dental care for thousands of Vermonters.

For the third consecutive year, lawmakers at the Statehouse are considering a proposal to require that virtually every job in Vermont come with sick leave benefits – or some other form of paid time off.

State officials, advocates and providers agree that not enough low-income Vermonters are getting in to see a dentist, but a fight is brewing in the Legislature about how to change that.

Last year a bill to license dental practitioners, who could perform oral health services at a dentist’s discretion, was derailed, but lawmakers in the House and Senate have reintroduced it this year.

Tis the season for candy canes, hot chocolate, and other sugary holiday treats, but there is some sobering news on the dental front in Vermont, with Bennington County not being exempt.

Contact us at amyb@voicesforvtkids.org to view a copy of the report to Governor Shumlin.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s new KIDS COUNT policy report, The First Eight Years: Giving Kids a Foundation for Lifetime Success, sends a clear message that to meet the needs of kids, we need to focus on three goals

Voices for Vermont’s Children celebrates the release of the special 25th edition of the KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Vermont kept its No. 2 national ranking in the well-being of the state’s children, ranking highly on education, family and community factors, according to statistics compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Ashley Moore worked twenty to 30 hours a week in restaurants to pay her way through the University of Vermont before graduating in May.

Vermont’s Department for Children and Families has come under intense scrutiny following the death in February of 2-year-old Dezirae Sheldon.

Watch Dr. Steve Arthur, Director of the Office of Oral Health, discuss how the lack of access to dental care has a negative impact on Vermonters.

For years, I watched people suffer in pain, contract dangerous infections, and lose their ability to chew their food and their desire to smile all from a preventable disease that as a dentist, I was trained to treat — tooth decay.