By Lauren Shoaf

chh@heraldsun.com; 419-6654

CHAPEL HILL -- There's one health care debate on which highly decorated dentist Gary Rozier is an immovable object.

The 34-year faculty veteran of the UNC School of Public Health said society is responsible for protecting children and creating an environment where they can be happy, safe, successful and able to learn.

"They can't do that themselves," said Rozier, who has worked to develop dental programs in North Carolina, especially for children from low-income families. "It's our ethical responsibility."

Among his many other accomplishments, Rozier has collaborated in the successful implementation of programs in oral services and preventive care for countless needy North Carolinians.

His high profile of service earned him the distinction of being one of 12 public health heroes chosen by Research!America for 2009. The national award goes to professionals on Public Health Thank You Day in November.

Rozier would tell you it was an honor to be recognized by such a group as Research!America, a nonprofit public education and advocacy alliance.

But he said the important issue is the visibility that oral health care got because of the award, and how it shows that research makes an important contribution to people's lives.

Rozier did not always plan to have a career in public health. He attended Wake Forest University as an undergraduate and then the UNC dental school.

"It kind of just happened after my undergraduate days at Wake Forest," Rozier said.

"When I came to Carolina for dental school, we would have discussions about health care at the time. It always interested me as much as or more so than the clinical aspects of dentistry," he said.

"When I was in dental school, it was an exciting time in this country in a number of ways. Most of the health and social programs come from that time. Johnson had become president not too long before and got an unbelievable amount of legislation passed. It was an amazing time. Major social and health programs that have continued to this day were implemented. It was also the time of Vietnam War and the civil rights movements."

One way Rozier could pay off a scholarship was to work in public health.

"I was hooked and have been involved ever since," he said.

Rozier's passion about his research shows when he speaks. He said his drive and inspiration come from the many problems that need to be solved.

Dental disease is the most common health problem children have. Children often must be hospitalized. Many don't have access to a dentist trained to work with very young children.

Rozier wants to fix these problems.

He was involved in researching and helping to implement Into the Mouths of Babes. He collaborated with other North Carolina partners to create this state program.

Into the Mouths of Babes trains physicians to provide preventive oral care to high-risk children under age 3. The physicians screen for disease, look for risk factors, counsel parents and apply fluoride to qualifying children.

"A number of states have decided a physician's office is a place oral care should be provided," Rozier said." There's a shortage of dentists in North Carolina."

Medicaid reimburses the physicians. The Oral Health Section of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services trains them for Into the Mouths of Babes.

"It has been a rewarding experience," Rozier said. The program has been looked at and adopted in 34 other states.

Into the Mouths of Babes was initiated with funds from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal and state agencies.

Kelly Close, Into the Mouths of Babes project coordinator, said Rozier is "the science behind not only IMB but much of dental public health. He's a true diplomat and anxious to share credit for his work. I'm honored and humbled to work with him."

Rozier is also involved in researching and implementing ZOE (Zero Out all Early childhood tooth decay), a North Carolina Early Head Start dental health initiative.

Zero Out provides oral health training for Early Head Start staff members so they can provide preventative services for children in the classroom. Parents are also educated in oral health care.

Early Head Start is "a comprehensive early education and child care program that provides support for families," Rozier said. "It has demonstrated long-term benefits like better health, more success in school and lower crime rates."

Rozier said that Zero Out adds a community arm to the services in private medical offices for children under 3 years old. Seventeen Early Head Start programs across the state have adopted the program.

"We were successful in getting grants to evaluate how the program is working," Rozier said. "Children are benefitting by learning and development as well as having their oral health needs addressed."

"I'm hoping the linkage of the two programs will work off of each other. Part of the intervention is to educate parents, but if children still are not getting oral health care at home, teachers are brushing their teeth with fluoride in the classroom," Rozier said.

Rozier also works with Carolina Dental Home, which encourages dentists to treat young children.

"We're beginning to see collaboration between dentists and physicians," Rozier said. "They're having joint continuing education meetings, and physicians are looking for places children needing to see a dentist can go for care.

"The vision for these programs is to create a system that includes the availability of preventative dental health services for young children in dentists' offices, physician offices and the community. We're trying to create a system that provides access to these services."