Buckle-up and smile for life: uncommon partners find common ground to collaborate and eliminate disparities. Part 1.

Disparities in health and lack of access to oral health are well-documented common concerns. Health education and health promotion increase awareness about the importance of prevention and the relationship of oral health to overall health. The benefits of collaboration and coalition building to enhance community outreach are well established. In order to combat and correct the problems of disparities and access, many more collaborative efforts must be put in place. Meaningful impact on the health of a community can be made by collaborations of both traditional and non-traditional partners. Grassroots efforts that mobilize coalitions around a specific cause and target specific populations can achieve far greater results than any one entity acting alone. Well-coordinated community projects that represent a collaboration of efforts can galvanize the resources, mobilize volunteers and engender public support that will achieve a positive outcome for a common good. The integration of oral health messages with other public health messages and partnership with a very non-traditional entity was an approach that was adopted by the National Dental Association (NDA). This paper describes the unique partnership between the NDA and the Department of Transportation-National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ([DOT-NHTSA], the funding agency) and the development and launch of a pilot program: "Buckle-Up and Smile for Life". Sections of the paper include: background information on the problems of disparity and access; the impact of community education and the benefits of collaboration; evolution of the unique partnership, including background information on disparities in seat belt usage among African Americans; a description on how the pilot program was structured and implemented; and future plans. The objective of this article is to encourage other oral health organizations to form alliances with the NDA (and other organizations committed to public health) to go into underserved communities to deliver the oral health message. Involvement and participation on all levels, with diverse and non-traditional partners will make a difference. The National Dental Association applauds the commitment of the American Dental Assistants Association to form alliances that address the issues of access and disparities. Groups working together for a common good are linked together by one common notion: Caring Counts.