To What Extent Does Climate Affect Dentistry

Oral health has a direct impact on the general health, hence, it is important that all Canadians have adequate access to dental care services. Over the years successive Governments have reduced financial support to programs delivering dental care to most vulnerable populations. As a result, many low income families and other vulnerable groups have been unable to access dental care. There is further escalation in the disparities in oral health care among Canadians, as the number of Canadians losing dental care benefits continues to increase. Also, higher oral health care costs can be expected in the near future due to shortage of health care professionals.

The problem in accessing dental care for low-income community is complex and cannot be determined simply. Lack of utilisation is as a result of lack of demands for dental health (Al Agili, Bronstein & Greene-McIntyre 2005). Demand also depends on the economic condition that supports the patients. At the individual level it has been known for years that financial reason is an essential barrier for not able to visit a dentist (Wallet et al. 2014). However, in this case, the Government try to assist low-income people by reducing financial barrier through the benefit offering by CDBS. Even though the scheme has not maximally encouraged those are eligible for the scheme. In addition to the financial barrier, perceived need is one of the reasons

Current environmental health problems that will likely exacerbate due to climate change include changes in air and water quality, and increase in parasite growth and chemical pollutants.

Global climate change is more than just raising the concentration of GHG’s in the atmosphere, it’s a serious health threat. Dr. Howard Koh, of the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, has stated that global warming is a threat to human health because of an increase in respiratory and allergy aggravation,

Climate change will create a number of health problems in the near future and become a top social issue. Climate will create more smog which will lead to higher rates of and other heat related illness.” Montreal currently has approximately 70 annual heat related deaths, while Toronto has 20. According to the (World health organization,2015). The statistic shows why this has become a social issue because people are dying every year affecting our society. Climate change also affects our world economy. The country is spending a lot of money trying to combat the issue as the country is losing natural resources as well as expected natural disasters are taking place. In 2013 there was an increase in floodings in the Toronto and Vancouver area due to unexpected weather. The clean-up bill came to $1.9 billion — the single most costly disaster in Canadian history — and 90 per cent of it was on the federal tab because Canadians cannot buy flood insurance”(Moore,2015.) As you can see the impacts of climate change leave the government with having to pay massive amounts money when it could be used for other things like creating jobs but that money is often now lost. Climate change has an effect on the environment. The glaciers in the Antarctic are melting as a result of increased amounts of heat now we are losing a part of

The provision of dental treatment in Australia is a topic that ignites a wide range of opinions and emotions among the various stakeholders involved. Much of dentistry in Australia is provided in the private setting, some estimates suggesting 83%1. Australians fund up to 60% of dental care via out of pocket payments1,2. Only a relatively small amount of dental care is provided in the public sector to patients who are often disadvantaged in regards to their oral health1. It is estimated that a large amount of the population is unable to access dental care due to finances; however the capacity of the public sector to provide dental care is limited. With limited funding and resources, the public sector is unable to provide dental care for all Australians and a large proportion of people are on long wait lists, some estimates of 650,0002.

Many low income areas have dental therapists as part of their local dental team. Many people in these areas have never been to a dentist or do not go every six months as recommended this poses many other health problems. There has been case studies and data showing that in these areas dental health

Oral health care is an integral part of the US healthcare system. In 2012, Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced “The Comprehensive Dental Reform Act”, which aimed on expanding dental coverage, accessible oral health care centers, increase in dental workforce, enhanced dental education and encourage dental research. (Congress.gov). The ACA, aim to curb the national health spending, by facilitating the affordability to quality care through private and public health insurance. The purpose of this bill is to cut the healthcare costs and to reverse the “silent epidemic” of dental health status (surgeon gen). This dental bill with an integrated approach towards the preventive and comprehensive oral healthcare is estimated to provide coverage to almost 17.7 million adults. (ADA

accept Medicaid and this might result in higher utilization in particular wards over others. We did not have information about parental marital status and other private insurance, which could be used for dental services and not reflect in Medicaid billing data. Also, there could be a potential bias due to delayed reporting of the data which might not be included in the dataset when we received it. Also, Centre for Medicaid Services (CMS) uses the information from these datasets and presents it by financial year whereas this analysis was done by calendar year, which may not match with the generally available information. Also, the composition of Medicaid population might not be a true representation of over-all population. People having private dental insurance might have a different utilization pattern for assigned dental home and preventive dental services. We also feel that the information of ward might not be an accurate representation of utilization since people may seek services from a provider in different wards than the one in which they reside. Having data about unique providers, along with unique patient might make a robust database to get more accurate information. Last but not the least, we restricted our definition preventive dental services to a combination of examination and fluoride application, which is not the same as followed by

Many people feel that dental care coverage in health insurance and visiting the dentist regularly are not essential. However, poor oral hygiene is linked to diseases such as diabetes and heart problem. Moreover, researches has shown that oral diseases have a great link to ear and sinus infections, weakened immune systems, and other health conditions (Scully, 2000). Untreated dental conditions have the potential to affect children’s speech, social development, and quality of life. However, it is known that greater utilization of health services associated with increasing insurance coverage, thus directly increase medical costs (Finkelstein et al., 2012; Newhouse, 1996). In fact, insurance coverage can indirectly reduce total health costs. As one type of healthcare service or preventive treatment may lead to decreases the use of other covered services. For example, yearly visit to the dental office for general checkup may prevent the future need for emergency dental care due to undiagnosed or untreated dental cavity (Hsu et al., 2006; Kaestner, 2012; Shang & Goldman, 2007).

As dental health care providers, we look at the many ways we can help our community with their access to care, ways to provide preventative treatment, and how we may best be able provide services to our clients. Many times the largest issue that lies within our community is access to care1. This is current crisis is a tremendous barrier which is affecting low-income populations, restricting their access to care1. In order to provide much needed services to many who go without dental care, a new position has emerged within the dental provider community within the last few years. This new role is the mid-level dental provider. A mid-level dental provider is a

The dental team at North Pole Dental Workshop in North Pole, Alaska, is committed to providing their patients with the highest quality of dental services at affordable prices. They understand that life happens, and you might be currently faced with unexpected bills that can cause problems with your dental budget. Their friendly, caring staff is dedicated to creating acceptable payment arrangements with you to keep your oral health at its best while remaining within your budget.

The economy plays an important factor of what people want to spend their money on. Dental/ oral health care is important to most people in today’s today world. Since the dental/ oral health industry is very big there are many trends that are arising such as the cost of dental care increase or decreasing, market of the industry and lastly global dental industry.

Although many Americans have good oral hygiene due to fluoride and making everyday good decisions, others do not have any access at all to oral health care. Over the years, dentists have been trying to demonstrate the importance of oral care. (“Access to Dental Care”) From commercials to campaigns, dentists will continue to demonstrate to their patients as well as to the people who don't have insurance the importance of oral health care. They will teach them preventative care and some techniques on how to prevent from getting any diseases.

Global climate change is real, it has noticeable effects on the environment. Climate change in the earth is caused by numerous activities. When climate change happens; temperatures can rise tremendously. Rapid warming notice nowadays is uncommon in the history of our planet. The rising temperatures will have great effects on the plant’s climate patterns and on all living things. When temperatures increase, different adjustments can occur on earth. For example, it can cause droughts, floods, air pollution, as well as extreme heat waves. Oceans are also experiencing changes: oceans are warming and becoming more acidic, glaciers are melting, and sea levels are rising. As these adjustments will occur in the future, it will cause challenges to our society and environment.