Increase Preventive Oral Care to Most At-Risk Adults
Having dedicated my life to preventive oral care, peer-reviewed articles on the impact of preventive care for at risk seniors continues to peak my interest. After reviewing many articles, two of them in particular caught my attention; Investing in preventive care for the Medicare Population (Moeller, Chen, and Manski, 2010) and Prevalence and Demographic Correlates of Tooth Loss among the Elderly in the United States (Marcus, Kaste, and Brown, 1998). There are many barriers to dental care in the United States; income, education, geography (rural/urban), disability status, age and culture, to name a few. Based on research of our aging population, the most at-risk populations to target for preventive services are “those with the least education and income.”1
Across the board, this segment of the aging population is found to have the highest edentulous rate, regardless of other factors. To increase access to preventive care for this population, increasing dental coverage through Medicare is one proposed solution. Not only can this measure improve the oral health of older adults, it can also lead to the reduction of expensive restorative or emergency treatment.2
1 Prevalence and demographic correlates of tooth loss among the elderly in the United States.
Marcus SE, Kaste LM, Brown LJ.
Spec Care Dentist. 1994 May-Jun;14(3):123-7.PMID: 7871473 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
2 Investing in Preventive Dental Care for the Medicare Population: A Preliminary Analysis.
Moeller JF, Chen H, Manski RJ.
Am J Public Health. 2010 Sep 23. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 20864712 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Showing posts with label oral. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oral. Show all posts
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Relief to the underserved populations
Who am I?
With a Masters Degree in Training and Development and over 20 years experience as a dental hygienist and a dental hygiene educator, I have developed in-depth senior and special needs oral training programs that combine various learning methods to provide caregivers the opportunity to transfer new skills to their patients. Programs include oral care for patients with cognitive impairment, mental retardation, Down's syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and age-related issues. I founded a company in 2006 to help meet the needs of these individuals and care providers called SOFT Smiles: Specialized Oral Focused Training. My motto is "Good Oral Health for Life" ©
Why am I writing this blog?
Due to the documented need for improved access to care and provision of care to the underserved populations, I believe that more attention needs to be paid to making necessary changes to reduce this disparity. Cognitively impaired (dementia, Alzheimer’s disease), physically impaired (stroke, Parkinson’s disease, etc) and Special Patients (mental retardation, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, etc) are the focus of this blog. By writing this blog, I hope to hear from those of you who have personal experience with these population groups. What issues do you or someone you know have with access to care? How is research making a difference to these individuals, families, caregivers? Although I live in the world of academia, community service, patient care, as well as educating/training caregivers and families is my passion.
With a Masters Degree in Training and Development and over 20 years experience as a dental hygienist and a dental hygiene educator, I have developed in-depth senior and special needs oral training programs that combine various learning methods to provide caregivers the opportunity to transfer new skills to their patients. Programs include oral care for patients with cognitive impairment, mental retardation, Down's syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and age-related issues. I founded a company in 2006 to help meet the needs of these individuals and care providers called SOFT Smiles: Specialized Oral Focused Training. My motto is "Good Oral Health for Life" ©
Why am I writing this blog?
Due to the documented need for improved access to care and provision of care to the underserved populations, I believe that more attention needs to be paid to making necessary changes to reduce this disparity. Cognitively impaired (dementia, Alzheimer’s disease), physically impaired (stroke, Parkinson’s disease, etc) and Special Patients (mental retardation, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, etc) are the focus of this blog. By writing this blog, I hope to hear from those of you who have personal experience with these population groups. What issues do you or someone you know have with access to care? How is research making a difference to these individuals, families, caregivers? Although I live in the world of academia, community service, patient care, as well as educating/training caregivers and families is my passion.
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