Oral Health Kansas Newsletter
Elizabeth Mertz, PhD, a dental sociologist and associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Dentistry (UCSF), did research on the dental care gap. She discussed the challenges older adults face when trying to access dental care, as well as the ways four states (California, Florida, Minnesota and North Carolina) are trying to solve those challenges.
DentistryToday.com
Teledentistry is emerging as a practical solution for patients living in rural areas, according to the University of Albany. Its researchers report that teledentistry can provide critical services where gaps currently exist, especially for treatment planning and specialty consultations, as a means to improve access to oral health services in areas with inadequate availability of general and specialty dental care.
OralHealthGroup.com
Teledentistry is emerging as a practical solution for patients living in rural areas, according to a new report by researchers at the University at Albany. The Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) recently published “Case Studies of 6 Teledentistry Programs: Strategies to Increase Access to General and Specialty Dental Services,” summarizing findings from a study of oral health providers on their use of teledentisty services.
MedicalXpress.com
Research conducted by the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) finds that in states where dental hygienists are allowed by law to practice at higher levels of professional competence and skill, the population’s oral health notably improves. The paper, published in Health Affairs‘ December 2016 thematic issue on oral health, examines impacts of dental hygiene “scope of practice” on oral health outcomes. Scope of practice for health professionals is defined by individual states’ laws and regulations, which describe permissible settings, allowable services, and requisite supervision by other health professionals.
DrBicuspid.com
Does expanding a hygienist’s scope of practice translate to improved oral healthcare at the state level? Researchers from New York believe it does, according to the results of a survey published this month in Health Affairs. With the debates about dental therapists and dental telemedicine ongoing, researchers from the University at Albany in New York updated a previous study to investigate if hygienists with an expanded practice options could reduce the oral disease burden. “Scope of practice for dental hygienists … had a positive and significant association with having no teeth removed because of decay or disease,” wrote lead study author Margaret Langelier and colleagues (Health Affairs, December 2016, Vol. 35:12, pp. 2207-2215).
Lexington Herald Leader
FRANKFORT – The oral health of Kentucky’s school children is worsening, even though more of them are covered by dental insurance today than 15 years ago.
A new report was presented Wednesday to the state’s legislature’s Interim Health and Welfare Committee, following on an earlier statewide study conducted in 2001. The report’s authors found that 41 percent of third- and sixth-graders surveyed by a dentist had at least one untreated cavity. In Eastern Kentucky, that figure rose to 53 percent, amounting to about 15,100 children in immediate need of a filling.
Lohud – The Journal News
You may want to consider acting on that toothache you’ve been ignoring for six months, or soon the soreness in the back of your mouth could be compounded by a new headache: Finding a dentist. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, New York state may face a shortage of dentists as early as 2025, as demand is expected to far outpace supply, with 1,024 fewer full-time dentists than needed. This is expected to become the third highest state shortage in the country.
Times Telegram
A new community health center is offering Herkimer County residents another place to turn for medical care. Valley Family Health Center, at 55 Central Plaza, Suite B in Ilion, started seeing patients part time in May and is hosting a formal ribbon cutting at noon Tuesday. The federally qualified community health center offers primary care and women’s health services.
Watchdog.org
Discounting the governor and the state flag, there isn’t much that the secluded backwoods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula have in common with the urban streets of Detroit. One thing they do have in common: not enough dentists. In all but seven of Michigan’s 83 counties, there is at least one area experiencing a shortage of dental professionals. It’s a truly statewide problem, one that affects a disproportionate number of children and low-income households.
PBS Kentucky Educational Television
CHWS Project Director Margaret Langelier presents findings of Oral Health in Kentucky report to Kentucky’s House of Representatives Health and Welfare Committee.
