Special to 1812Blockhouse
David Hoag, DDS, the chief dental officer for Third Street Family Health Services in Mansfield, has been named the 2022 Dr. James F. Quilty, Jr. Award for Champions of Oral Health recipient. Hoag was officially presented with the statewide award during a ceremony Thursday at North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC).
Created in 2004 by the Ohio Department of Health, the Dr. James F. Quilty, Jr. Award for Champions of Oral Heath recognizes efforts to improve oral health for Ohioans. Tooth decay, tooth pain, and gum disease can negatively impact the quality of day-to-day life. Poor oral health can also lead to chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease.
Hoag is being recognized for leading an initiative to provide dental care to children at Third Street’s in-school clinic, Malabar Care Connect. His work on a new mobile dental clinic program that serves students at Mansfield City Schools is credited for helping to expand access to preventative oral healthcare.
Empowering through education
He also spearheaded several collaborations to improve Ohioans’ dental health by educating them about how oral health can impact total health. For example, Third Street’s dental and behavioral health departments united to launch a smoking cessation program in 2021. This program promotes support for cessation with a combination of education, medication, and counseling.
Hoag also collaborates with Third Street’s OB/GYN providers to teach them how to perform risk assessments on pregnant patients so oral health problems can be identified and addressed early with referrals to the clinic’s dental services. Pregnant women with dental problems can unintentionally transmit bacteria that play the primary role in causing tooth decay to their infants.
Hoag’s professional expertise and passion for dental healthcare are important drivers in Third Street’s mission to provide for the underserved in Richland and Crawford counties.
Legacy of care
According to ODH’s website, “Dr. James F. Quilty, Jr. served as the Chief of the Division of Maternal and Child Health for the Ohio Department of Health from December 1980 to January 1993. Remembering the harmful effects of dental disease that he had seen in his pediatric patients over the years, Dr. Quilty knew that oral health was an important part of child health.” The Dr. James F. Quilty, Jr. Award for Champions of Children’s Oral Health was established in 1992. The award was renamed in 2004 and made inclusive to honor efforts to improve oral health for all age groups.
