Pending Legislation Promotes Oral Health Literacy

Federal legislation of interest to the oral health community was recently included in a hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee: the Oral Health Literacy and Awareness Act of 2021 (H.R. 4555). Introduced by U.S. Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), the bill authorizes a public education campaign across all relevant programs of the Health Resources and Services Administration to increase oral health literacy and awareness for fiscal years 2022 through 2026. The stated goal of H.R. 4555 is to provide a key tool in preventing poor oral health through the promotion of oral health literacy.