Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations

Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309209463
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
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.

Access to Dental Care and Health Disparities

Access to Dental Care and Health Disparities PDF Author: Kanetha Wilson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : African Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description


Reducing Oral Health Disparities: What Can We Learn from Social, Environmental and Cultural Factors?

Reducing Oral Health Disparities: What Can We Learn from Social, Environmental and Cultural Factors? PDF Author: Tamanna Tiwari
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889453715
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
Oral health disparities are profound worldwide, and they affect the quality of life of individuals of all age groups. Disparities in oral health are seen in racial and ethnic minorities, at different socioeconomic levels and due to differences in environment and cultural factors. Several determinants of oral health have been identified at the population, community, family and individual levels. These determinants represent a complex interplay of the social, biological, cultural and economic factors that in turn affect the oral health behaviors, environmental exposures, health care utilization. To date, biological factors related to oral diseases have received much attention in oral health research; whilst social and cultural determinants have just started to receive recognition for their role in oral disease development and progression. This research highlights that interventions designed to reduce disparities should adopt a multi-level approach in order to identify the modifiable mechanisms and target all determinants of oral health disparities. In this Research Topic, we will focus on the role of social, environmental and cultural factors in the development and progression of oral diseases, their role in oral health disparities and interventions focusing on these factors to improve oral health and reduce disparities.

Oral Health in America

Oral Health in America PDF Author: Henrie M. Treadwell
Publisher: APHA Press
ISBN: 9780875533056
Category : Health services accessibility
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Details inequities to an oral health care system that disproportionately affects the poor, those without insurance, underrepresented and underserved communities, the disabled, and senior citizens.

Communities in Action

Communities in Action PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Advancing Oral Health in America

Advancing Oral Health in America PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309186307
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
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.

Teeth

Teeth PDF Author: Mary Otto
Publisher: The New Press
ISBN: 1620972816
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
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.

Oral Health Disparities as Determined by Selected Healthy People 2020 Oral Health Objectives for the United States, 2009-2010

Oral Health Disparities as Determined by Selected Healthy People 2020 Oral Health Objectives for the United States, 2009-2010 PDF Author: Bruce A. Dye
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Dental care
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description


Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access and Utilization of Dental Services Among Children in Iowa

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Access and Utilization of Dental Services Among Children in Iowa PDF Author: Alejandra Valencia
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Hispanic American children
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
Seven factors were related to the time of the last dental visit for Iowa children: Having a regular source of dental care, dental insurance status, having a dental need in the past 12 months, brushing habits, the age of the children, and family income. The same seven factors were correlated to having a dental visit for white children. For African-American children, having a regular source of dental care, dental insurance status, and having a dental need in the last 12 months were the factors that were found associated to the time of the last dental check-up. For the Latino Spanish children, having a regular source of dental care and the age of the children were factors associated to dental utilization. Finally, for the Latino English children, the only factor associated with having a dental visit was having a regular source of dental care. Information from this research gives policy makers, public health workers, and clinicians an overview of oral health disparities affecting children in the state. For those agencies in Iowa interested in the improvement of access and utilization of dental services for minority children, this project gives important inside about the factors related to the use of services for different racial/ethnic groups in the state.

The U.S. Oral Health Workforce in the Coming Decade

The U.S. Oral Health Workforce in the Coming Decade PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309147948
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
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?