Integrating Oral And Systemic Health Innovations In Transdisciplinary Science Health Care And Policy

“This Research Topic has been hosted in collaboration with the Santa Fe Group Salon 2021. The Topic Editors Judi Haber and Ira Lamster declare that they are affiliated with the Santa Fe Group (SFG). The remaining Topic Editors partnered with Frontiers and the SFG in launching this Research Topic, which coincided with the SFG’s Continuum on Oral Health Integration, 2021 https://santafegroup.org/events/.”

Oral health care and medical health care both seek to maintain and enhance human health and well-being. Yet, dentistry and primary care in the United States are largely separated and isolated from each other. Each has its own siloed systems for education, service delivery, financing, and policy oversight. The result has been duplication of effort, a cultural gap between the two professions, and lost opportunities for productive collaboration and better health. On December 6, 2018, in Washington, DC, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop titled Integrating Oral and General Health Through Health Literacy Practices. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

This issue of Dental Clinics, edited by Lisa A. Thompson and Leonard J. Brennan, focuses on Geriatric Dentistry. Articles include: Our Current Geriatric Population: Demographic and Oral Health Care Utilization; Physiology of Aging of Older Adults: Systemic and Oral Health Considerations; Treatment Planning Considerations in Older Adults; Oral Health Disparity in Older Adults: Dental Decay and Tooth Loss; Oral Health Disparities in Older Adults: Oral bacteria, Inflammation and Aspiration Pneumonia; Salivary Function and Xerostomia and the Implications of Polypharmacy in Elderly; Systemic and Oral Health; Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults and Oral Health considerations: Treatment and Management; Integrating Oral Health into the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Curriculum; Innovations in Dental Care Delivery for the Older Adult; and more!

This is a Pageburst digital textbook; This book focuses on oral health promotion and the impact of systemic disease in the development of oral disease, as well as how to introduce, apply, and communicate prevention to a patient with a defined risk profile. Prevention in Clinical Oral Health Care integrates preventive approaches into clinical practice, and is a valuable tool for all health care professionals to integrate oral health prevention as a component of their overall preventive message to the patient. Discusses risk-based approaches to prevent problems such as caries, periodontal disease, and oral cancer. Topics are written at a level that can be understood by both practicing dental health team members and by dental hygiene and dental students so strategies can be applied to better understand the patient's risk for oral disease and how to prevent future disease. Identifies the barriers, oral health care needs, and preventive strategies for special populations such as children, the elderly, and the physically or mentally disabled. Explores the development of a culturally sensitive dental practice and strategies to make the dental environment more welcoming to individuals with different cultural backgrounds. Discusses how to gather patient information, the synthesis of the patient's data, and the application of the information collected in order to evaluate the patient's risk for disease.

"Why is dental care excluded from Canada's national system of health insurance, Medicare? The Politics of Dental Care in Canada answers this long-standing policy question. It further explores why some people have ready access to dental care and others do not and considers how the politics of dentistry contribute to oral health-related inequity and why it matters at the individual, health care system, and societal levels. It does this by examining political economy, the social determinants of health, and the balance that all modern societies must make between individual and social responsibility over health. The latest available information is presented on the epidemiology of oral diseases and conditions; the connection between oral health and systemic health; and the organization, financing, and delivery of oral health care in Canada and internationally. The first chapter provides an introduction on the topic. The second chapter presents a history of dentistry in Canada from the late nineteenth century onward, outlining how dentistry traversed a developing Canadian welfare state and how it used moral ascriptions of health, scientific and public health advances, and prevailing economic uncertainty in order to separate and exclude itself from larger movements in health care policy. The third chapter describes the outcomes of this policy history in terms of oral disease and oral health care and the implications it holds for Canadian society and the dental profession. Finally, in the fourth chapter, the text concludes with a detailed look at potential policy solutions, which are theoretically grounded and actionable, aimed at achieving equity in oral health and access to dental care, alongside the best possible outcomes for all stakeholder groups."--

Though it is highly preventable, tooth decay is a common chronic disease both in the United States and worldwide. Evidence shows that decay and other oral diseases may be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. However, individuals and many health care professionals remain unaware of the risk factors and preventive approaches for many oral diseases. They do not fully appreciate how oral health affects overall health and well-being. In Advancing Oral Health in America, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) highlights the vital role that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can play in improving oral health and oral health care in the United States. The IOM recommends that HHS design an oral health initiative which has clearly articulated goals, is coordinated effectively, adequately funded and has high-level accountability. In addition, the IOM stresses three key areas needed for successfully maintaining oral health as a priority issue: strong leadership, sustained interest, and the involvement of multiple stakeholders from both the public and private sectors. Advancing Oral Health in America provides practical recommendations that the Department of Health and Human Services can use to improve oral health care in America. The report will serve as a vital resource for federal health agencies, health care professionals, policy makers, researchers, and public and private health organizations.

Access to oral health care is essential to promoting and maintaining overall health and well-being, yet only half of the population visits a dentist each year. Poor and minority children are less likely to have access to oral health care than are their nonpoor and nonminority peers. Older adults, people who live in rural areas, and disabled individuals, uniformly confront access barriers, regardless of their financial resources. The consequences of these disparities in access to oral health care can lead to a number of conditions including malnutrition, childhood speech problems, infections, diabetes, heart disease, and premature births. Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations examines the scope and consequences of inadequate access to oral health services in the United States and recommends ways to combat the economic, structural, geographic, and cultural factors that prevent access to regular, quality care. The report suggests changing funding and reimbursement for dental care; expanding the oral health work force by training doctors, nurses, and other nondental professionals to recognize risk for oral diseases; and revamping regulatory, educational, and administrative practices. It also recommends changes to incorporate oral health care into overall health care. These recommendations support the creation of a diverse workforce that is competent, compensated, and authorized to serve vulnerable and underserved populations across the life cycle. The recommendations provided in Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations will help direct the efforts of federal, state, and local government agencies; policy makers; health professionals in all fields; private and public health organizations; licensing and accreditation bodies; educational institutions; health care researchers; and philanthropic and advocacy organizations.

The Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the scientific literature relevant to climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The report recognizes the interactions of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies, and integrates across the natural, ecological, social and economic sciences. It emphasizes how efforts in adaptation and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions can come together in a process called climate resilient development, which enables a liveable future for biodiversity and humankind. The IPCC is the leading body for assessing climate change science. IPCC reports are produced in comprehensive, objective and transparent ways, ensuring they reflect the full range of views in the scientific literature. Novel elements include focused topical assessments, and an atlas presenting observed climate change impacts and future risks from global to regional scales. Available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.