Oral Health Care

This book provides a comprehensive review of the assessment and management of older people’s oral health care needs. Discussing recent initiatives to emphasize oral health promotion and prevention, the book describes improvements in pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for special populations in geriatrics and illuminates the role of barriers to oral health care for older people. Divided into three sections, the book first explores aging and oral health, including age-related changes, epidemiology, nutrition, dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, xerostomia and hyposalivation, management of periodontal disease and caries, systemic diseases that influence oral health, and considerations for chronic orofacial pain. The second section illuminates the ways in which frailty and other geriatric syndromes influence oral health care in older adults with a special focus on frailty, dementia, delirium and depression, and the delivery of oral health care to vulnerable geriatric populations in long-term care, home care, palliative care, and hospice. Lastly, the book addresses inequalities in the oral health of older minority populations, the disproportionate burden of oral disease and tooth loss, the contribution of these issues to further complications in comorbidities, the association of extended health literacy and periodontal disease, and the social and cultural conditions that might be altered or improved by healthcare programs and health policies. Oral Health and Aging is a useful book written by an international group of experts and designed to educate geriatricians, primary care physicians, nurses, dentists, dental hygienists, speech and language pathologists, dietitians, and health policy advocates.

The essential guide to integrative dental health—safe, effective, and toxin-free steps to all-natural oral care and a vibrant, healthy smile Bestselling author Nadine Artemis reveals the 8 steps to successful self-dentistry Holistic Dental Care introduces simple, at-home dental techniques that anyone can do. With more than 50 full-color photos and illustrations, this book offers oral self-care strategies to address every dental concern—from everyday maintenance to bite and alignment, gum health to heavy metal detox. Bestselling author Nadine Artemis also shares the 8 Steps to Successful Self-Dentistry, 8 holistic oral care guidelines. You’ll also learn: The truth about toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouthwash All-natural techniques for keeping your teeth healthy, clean, and strong Proper flossing for healthy gums What questions to ask your dentist—and when it’s time to find a new one Pure, organic ways to prevent plaque, decay, inflammation, and bleeding gums The connection between tooth health and alkaline diets Offering an integrative approach to treat the real cause of your dental concerns—not just the symptoms—Holistic Dental Care helps bring your entire being back into balance and whole-body health, starting with all-natural biological dentistry and chemical-free oral care.

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.

An NPR Best Book of 2017 "[Teeth is] . . . more than an exploration of a two-tiered system—it is a call for sweeping, radical change." —New York Times Book Review "Show me your teeth," the great naturalist Georges Cuvier is credited with saying, "and I will tell you who you are." In this shattering new work, veteran health journalist Mary Otto looks inside America's mouth, revealing unsettling truths about our unequal society. Teeth takes readers on a disturbing journey into America's silent epidemic of oral disease, exposing the hidden connections between tooth decay and stunted job prospects, low educational achievement, social mobility, and the troubling state of our public health. Otto's subjects include the pioneering dentist who made Shirley Temple and Judy Garland's teeth sparkle on the silver screen and helped create the all-American image of "pearly whites"; Deamonte Driver, the young Maryland boy whose tragic death from an abscessed tooth sparked congressional hearings; and a marketing guru who offers advice to dentists on how to push new and expensive treatments and how to keep Medicaid patients at bay. In one of its most disturbing findings, Teeth reveals that toothaches are not an occasional inconvenience, but rather a chronic reality for millions of people, including disproportionate numbers of the elderly and people of color. Many people, Otto reveals, resort to prayer to counteract the uniquely devastating effects of dental pain. Otto also goes back in time to understand the roots of our predicament in the history of dentistry, showing how it became separated from mainstream medicine, despite a century of growing evidence that oral health and general bodily health are closely related. Muckraking and paradigm-shifting, Teeth exposes for the first time the extent and meaning of our oral health crisis. It joins the small shelf of books that change the way we view society and ourselves—and will spark an urgent conversation about why our teeth matter.

"Brings together leading and emerging researchers to advance understanding of the complex relationships between homelessness and health. Covering a wide range of topics from youth homelessness to end-of-life care, contributors outline policy and practice recommendations to respond to this public health crisis."--Back cover.

Access to oral health services is a problem for all segments of the U.S. population, and especially problematic for vulnerable populations, such as rural and underserved populations. The many challenges to improving access to oral health services include the lack of coordination and integration among the oral health, public health, and medical health care systems; misaligned payment and education systems that focus on the treatment of dental disease rather than prevention; the lack of a robust evidence base for many dental procedures and workforce models; and regulatory barriers that prevent the exploration of alternative models of care. This volume, the summary of a three-day workshop, evaluates the sufficiency of the U.S. oral health workforce to consider three key questions: What is the current status of access to oral health services for the U.S. population? What workforce strategies hold promise to improve access to oral health services? How can policy makers, state and federal governments, and oral health care providers and practitioners improve the regulations and structure of the oral health care system to improve access to oral health services?

Filling a gap in the health policy literature, author and dental public health specialist Dr. Carlos Quiñonez explores the complexities surrounding Canada’s dental care system and policies, including how they came to be, their consequences, and what they mean for oral health and access to dental care. The Politics of Dental Care in Canada seeks to answer a long standing policy question in Canadian health care: Why is dental care excluded from Canada’s national system of health insurance, Medicare? The text presents a history of dentistry in Canada from the late 19th century onward, outlining how dentistry traversed a developing Canadian welfare state. Dr. Quiñonez explores factors that led to dentistry’s separation from larger movements in health care policy, including moral questions on individual versus social responsibility over health, scientific advances in the field, and prevailing economic uncertainty. Opening with a series introduction by Dr. Dennis Raphael, this vital text offers an extensive overview on how the politics of dental care contributes to inequalities and inequities in oral health. From discussing scientific and public health advances in dentistry to looking at the general nature of oral health care in Canada from an international perspective, this text serves as an important addition to the field of health policy and a foundational resource for courses in dentistry, health studies, and comparative health policy. FEATURES - Comprehensively discusses the current state of Canadian dental care policy, the history and factors that led to the policy, and the resulting outcomes and inequalities - Presents the latest available information 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

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.