Category Archives: Health Promotion

Health Promotion

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Currently the British Columbia’s Medical Service Plan (MSP) does not cover for dental care. With the only minor exception for emergency dental care provided at hospitals and residents 19 years old or younger who are a part of a low to moderate income family. (1) Thus, my group ( consist of Arielle,Nancy and I ) want to advocate and work towards including oral assessments with in the MSP. The oral assessment would include intra/extra oral exam, dental exam, and periodontal exam. We believe as health care professionals, it is important to view health in a holistic sense. People go to their doctors to get their yearly blood work done to prevent diseases, maintain health, and ensure the health of the individual. because they want to know that everything is healthy. Likewise, an oral assessment is a baseline indicator to whether the mouth is healthy or unhealthy. We also believe that by inputting oral assessment as apart of the MSP, the population will gain an insight on the notion of prevention and maintenance of the oral health. Moreover, Integrating oral health into the MSP, coincides with the Ottawa Charter of reorienting health services so that different health care professions work together to satisfy the need of a person as a whole. (2)

As apart of our cause advocacy project, we plan to act on this by means of A) Writing a letter to Michael De Jong B) Starting a facebook page to gain support from fellow hygienists.

In doing so, we hope that once this is in place there will be a decrease in oral health disparity present in BC and also promote the notion of maintenance of oral health as apart of overall health.

Please see the link below for the Facebook page we created

https://www.facebook.com/groups/324277417620415/

Our letter to Michael De Jong is found below.

DHYG410_Cause_Advocacy_Nancy_Anna_Arielle

 

Reference

  1. British Columbia Ministry of Health. Medical and health care benefits [Internet]. [cited 2012 March 28].  Available from: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/benefits.html
  2. World Health Organization. Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. First International Conference on Health Promotion; November 21, 1986. Ottawa: WHO; 1986. p.1-4.

 

 

Why your smile matters. (Health Promotion)

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Figure 1. This is the table clinic my group and I made.

At our externship sites in term 1, my group and I had  our first exposure to the mental illness population. It was apparent that both Pioneer and Lina’s place had immense need for oral care. Upon completion of the situation analysis, review of the literature and assessments we were able to piece the puzzle together. One of the most predominating factors would be the lack of self-esteem and lack of motivation present in this special needs population. (1) As a result, our group decided to promote oral self care behaviour that tailors to the resident’s motivational and self-esteem. As these homes are transitional homes, we promoted the relevancy of taking care of their oral health to the advancement of the next stage of their lives. We talked about how research having disease free mouth was related to more smiling and more smiling was related to higher self-esteem.(2,3) Not only did we promote oral self care practices using psycho-social factors, we talked about overall well-being. As a result of our table clinic the residents were engaged and asked a lot of questions and some of them express that they did not know about a lot of the knowledge that we shared with them.

Please see the attachment for our pamphlet that accompanied the table clinic.pioneerpamph

 

Reference

  1. Griffiths J et al. Oral health care for people with mental health problems: guidelines and recommendations. Report of BSDH Working Group. British Society for Disability and Oral Health. January 2000.
  2. Patel RR, Richards S and Inglehart MR. Periodontal Health, Quality of Life, and Smiling Patterns – An Exploration. J Periodontol. 2008;79:224-31.
  3. McKeown L. Social relations and breath odour. Int J Dent Hyg. 2003;3:213-7.

Say NO! to polish, with the help from research

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I am fortunate to have the chance to undergo my dental hygiene schooling at UBC. Here at UBC I have access to an extensive journal databases. Moreover, the dental hygiene program at UBC emphasizes the importance of evidence-base literature. This is significant as the evidence-based literature would serve as a practice guideline and facilitate in decision making. Subsequently, the recommendations given to clients would be of beneficence.The use of evidence-based recommendation is often used in my own dental hygiene care. I have had many clients who request for polishing and they usually ask me “My previous dental office always gave me polishing before the fluoride. Why don’t you?”. I would then provide them with what the recent research on rubber cup polishing. That is, RCP would remove micro layers of enamel, and that it is not needed for fluoride uptake. (1)  In addition, I would have clients who have equated a to a white smile to a healthy smile and wanted bleaching. I would then have to dispel this myth and explain the risk of bleeching their teeth. Once I provide my clients with this information, they are usually surprised and they make their own decision to decline polishing.

Reference

1. Azarpazhooh A, and Main PA. Efficacy of dental prophylaxis (rubber cup) for the prevention of caries and gingivitis: a systematic review of literature. Br Dent J. 2009;207(7):328-9.

Mr. C (Clinical Therapy)

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Prior to entering the program, I had a misconception that the oral health literacy of the general population were at a particular standard. As we live in country where the health care system is ranked top 30. Also, my parents have always had dental insurance and I would visit the dental office every six months. However, I gradually learn throughout the program, a client’s oral status and oral health perceptions is mediated by social determinants. In my senior years in dental hygiene, I was able to experience what we learned in class first hand. Mr.C a 65 year old man who was recently divorced,neglected by family members and recently moved to east Vancouver. With the castastrophe Mr. C was experiencing in his current stage of life, his oral health was in a similar state. When asked when was the last time he brushed, he stated he could not remember. Mr. C acknowledged that he had neglected taking care of his oral health, but also stated that he stopped brushing his teeth due to pain and the excessive bleeding. Mr. C thought that the bleeding of his gums was caused by his tooth brushing. Through debridement, client education, and oral self care sessions, there was a gradual improvement of his oral health. Moreover, there was visible change in his overall well-being as well. There was an increase in self-esteemed as Mr. C understood that he had control over his own oral health. He would enthusiastically give me weekly updates of the decrease in bleeding that he was experiencing. In addition, he would tell me about how he was meeting up with friends more often now as well. Through the supportive dental hygiene care that I was providing Mr. C was able to maintain his oral health and optimize his oral functions.