Oral Health Related Quality Of Life

Evidence increasingly shows that poor oral health is associated with functional disability that can lead to deficits and decline” (Overview of oral health, 2017). According to an article in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, dental fear can have a significant impact on a person’s awareness of their oral health, as well as one’s pro-active steps towards prevention and treatment. Therefore, it is paramount in helping a patient alleviate their fear by listening to the patient, acknowledging their concerns, and taking things slowly (Yildirim,

“The impact of unmet oral health care needs is magnified by the well-established connection between oral health and overall health” (Fineberg, H. 2011, p. ix). Oral health status is linked with general health, as evidenced by the association between poor oral health and chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease. Poor oral hygiene can also lead to other health issues such as, oral facial pain and digestive problems. “The silent epidemic of oral diseases disproportionately affects disadvantaged communities,

The Kayser-Jones brief oral health status examination (BOHSE) is important because “almost 70% of Americans 65 and older have no dental coverage” (McGinn-Shapiro, 2008). The reason why many older Americans lose dental insurance is because of retirement, and socioeconomics plays a role in obtaining oral disease. With this being said, the geriatric population is at risk for dental related problems like infection, tooth loss, disease, and cancer. So by the time the patient enters a nursing home, they arrive with issues that were not treated in the past. The Kayser-Jones is an assessment tool that will help screen for oral related issues to patients in nursing homes, hospitalized patients, individuals with cognitive impairment, and residents at

A 1991 study by Hoad‐Reddick[h] showed that simple questionnaires carried out by non-dental professionals (e.g. regular care-home staff) could highlight dental care needs. If regular dental check-ups were carried out in these institutions, or if staff looked into the oral health needs of the elderly people in these institutions, the need for preventative measures and treatment could be highlighted much sooner.

As a primary strategy for reducing oral health disparities, the current Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, restated the commitment to incorporation of oral health into medicine. The responsibility included the implementation of an agency-wide Oral Health Strategic Framework, which will seek to integrate oral health across federal agencies in the form of funding priorities and workforce development (Murthy, 2016). The framework aims to reduce oral health disparities by integrating oral health into primary care, improving distribution of oral health awareness and increasing oral health care services research (Murthy, 2016). Already, the framework has led to increased funding for oral health care delivery in community health centers and grants to support the integration of oral health into primary care training at the medical school, advanced graduate education, and practitioner levels (Adesanya et al.,

Implant procedures has become more common practice. With proper selection of patients and treatment planning, using dental implants to replace missing teeth can provide long lasting functional and aesthetic restorations. However, when poorly executed, many problems can arise. Failure to integrate is usually not as difficult to manage as an improperly positioned implant. When an implant fails, proper treatment plan should be explained all the relevant variable. Patients should be informed about all the possible treatment modalities after implant failure and give their consent to the most appropriate treatment option for them. The key to preventing these types of failures is proper treatment planning.

Summary- There is visible improvement in all three areas in age group 20-45. There is noticeable connection between regular brushing and longer lasting teeth and overall better health. From the position of attendance- majority of the adults attended regularly at least every 2 years and even it’s still difficult to find NHS dentist vast majority of the adults manage book and attend appointment. There is higher rate of the carries in the families from manual occupations

Integration of oral health care into advanced geriatric care: Geriatric patients are generally classified into three groups based on functional living ability; functionally independent, frail, and functionally dependent. Special approaches and treatment goals for oral health are different for each group. Regardless of functional status, the elimination of acute dental infection and pain should be achieved for all elderly patients. Oral disease prevention is still the central focus for the elderly population as for other patient populations. Special oral hygiene measures, however, are required for the elderly. For example, toothbrush or dental floss devices with larger handles may be provided to patients with limited manual dexterity resulting

In an attempt to compare the status of oral health between the African American, American-Indian communities and the white population, the researchers carried out their research in the rural counties of North Carolina. The participant pool consisted of 635 people who were aged 60 and above. They carried out their research using different methods like oral examination, cross sectional studies and self reports from the participants. Through their findings, the researchers came into the conclusion that the participants from ethnic minority groups showed significantly poor oral health as compared to the white population. This included results from the oral examinations that the researchers conducted as long as the self reports from the participants. They also concluded that although most of the oral health conditions were related to the socioeconomic status of the participants, the oral health deficits in these populations were also related to the chronic diseases and their risk factors.

As a future dental professional, I decided to focus my research on a topic that would be beneficial in my career as a clinician and useful for patient education. Hence, I decided to learn more about oral health. Based on my academic knowledge, so far, there is overwhelming evidence that suggests that a majority number of Americans are unaware of the link between oral health and systemic health. Poor oral health plays a vital role in impacting our overall health. This is mainly due to the lack

A cross-sectional oral health survey was designed to assess both functional and psychosocial effects of dental disease on the elderly population of Buda, Texas (US). Printed surveys that consisted of 50 open-ended questions on dental disease history and dental hygiene were mailed to the selected members of a target group. However, the response rate was not satisfactory, as a large percentage of the selected study participants either did not return the survey, or failed to answer all the questions posed. The researchers opted for two strategies: prompt those who did not respond with a second letter that guaranteed complete confidentiality and broaden the pool of selected participants. Depending on the final response rate and researchers’ statistical skills, the bias in the final publication will be more pronounced if:

Differences in perception between patients and clinicians on the severity of OM has been a major limitation in optimum management. In patients, the mildest symptoms can trigger discomfort, whilst clinicians look for more complex manifestations such as infections. The time at which patients are assessed may also contribute to variations in reporting. Therefore, the use of a tool that is able to accurately measure both the patient and clinician’s concern is required. Indeed, in the current study, an overall positive correlation between OMDQ and WHO was observed. This was further supported by positive correlations for each component of the scale. This is not unexpected since the WHO scale incorporates both objective assessments of the oral cavity and subjective assessments of the condition of the patient.

Providing initial therapy (ex. non-surgical periodontal therapy) is key in arresting the progression of the periodontal disease that is present. NSPT’s that were used in my client’s treatment include, oral biofilm removal and control, supragingival and sub gingival scaling with hand instrumentation and the ultrasonic, oral self care indices, oral hygiene education, tobacco cessation, oral cancer screenings, and finally evaluation throughout the duration of care. One intervention that was not planned but should have been added would have been 4-6 week re-evaluation to determine further evaluation of the interventions. Since a 4-6 week reevaluation was not conducted a reevaluation of a quadrant was completed a week after debridement. The connection between the expected outcomes and the assessment findings include the remineralization of enamel and the extreme risk for decay, the moderate deposits and the client becoming deposit free, low dental IQ and expecting the client’s ability to explain certain dental terms and how to conduct an oral cancer screening. The connection between the assessment findings and expected outcomes are crucial in order for the operator to identify the need for the type of treatment and reduce the disease found in the client’s oral

Oral healthcare is an integral part of the US healthcare system and contributes to the fast growing US healthcare expenditure. Since ages, a pervasive trend of neglected oral health has been observed. Though the long overdue reform act, ACA, has addressed the pitfalls of the healthcare system by improving the access and coverage to oral health, this trend still prevails. Underutilization of oral policy is seen predominantly in the rural residing adults. Almost 20% of US population resides in the rural region, so the practicality in addressing this issue, relies on making pivotal changes in the legislative and dental provider field.

Imagine after years of being dead, a human body is found and all that is really left of them is their teeth. Why? It may be because of the way they took care of their teeth while they were alive and the precaution methods they were educated about. Educating people about oral health is really important because teeth are the strongest bone in our body and they even preserve the most after we pass away, this means it is an essential factor to knowing how to protect them from getting a disease and keeping them as long as possible. Most patients are not aware of diseases in dentistry. Educating the older and the young generation will help to care for their oral health.