Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations


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.




Integration of Medical and Dental Care and Patient Data


Book Description

This book informs readers of the needs and rationale for the integration of medical and dental care and information with an international perspective as to how and where medical and dental care separated into specific domains. It provide high level guidance on issues involved with care and data integration and how to achieve an integrated model of health care supported by integrated HIT. A patient typically expects that a visit to a dentist can usually be resolved immediately. This expectation places a premium on instant, accurate, thorough, and current information. The state-of-the-art of fully integrated (dental-medical) electronic health record (EHR) is covered and this is contrasted with the current state of dental-medical software. While dentists in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the US Indian Health Service (IHS), or the US military, for example, have access to fully integrated health records, most US clinicians still gather information from separate sources via fax or phone calls. The authors provide an in-depth discussion of the role of informatics and information science in the articulation of medical and dental practices and clinical data with the focus on applied clinical informatics to improve quality of care, practice efficiency, coordination and continuity of care, communication between physicians and dentists and to provide a more comprehensive care for the patients. Lastly, the book examines advances in medical and dental research and how these may affect dentistry in the future. Most new advances in healthcare research are information-intensive.




Medical and Dental Expenses


Book Description




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


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?




CDT 2020


Book Description

Get paid faster and keep more detailed patient records with CDT 2020: Dental Procedure Codes. New and revised codes fill in the coding gaps, which leads to quicker reimbursements and more accurate record keeping. CDT 2020 is the most up-to-date coding resource and the only HIPAA-recognized code set for dentistry. 2020 code changes include: 37 new codes, 5 revised codes, and 6 deleted codes. The new and revised codes reinforce the connection between oral health and overall health, help with assessing a patient’s health via measurement of salivary flow, and assist with case management of patients with special healthcare needs. Codes are organized into 12 categories of service with full color charts and diagrams throughout, in spiral bound format for easy searching. Includes a chapter on ICD-10-CM codes. CDT 2020 codes go into effect on January 1, 2020 – don’t risk rejected claims by using outdated codes.




Health Economics in Dentistry, Second Edition


Book Description

This book serves as an introduction to the economics of dentistry. It provides an introduction to the basic laws of economics, along with their application in the oral health care sector. It presents dental professionals and students with the elements of economic theory and thinking as applied to their own field, and will be of value to those willing to learn how everyday decisions and actions in dentistry are influenced by the laws of economics. The book will be essential reading for dental professionals, policy makers, oral health administrators, and dental students.







Pharmacology and Therapeutics for Dentistry - E-Book


Book Description

Use your knowledge of pharmacology to enhance oral care! Pharmacology and Therapeutics for Dentistry, 6th Edition describes how to evaluate a patient's health and optimize dental treatment by factoring in the drugs they take. It explores the basic fundamentals of pharmacology, special topics such as pain control, fear and anxiety, and oral complications of cancer therapy, and most importantly, the actions of specific drug groups on the human body. Whether you're concerned about the drugs a patient is already taking or the drugs you prescribe for treatment, this book helps you reduce risk and provide effective dental care. - An emphasis on the dental applications of pharmacology relates drugs to dental considerations in clinical practice. - Dental aspects of many drug classes are expanded to include antibiotics, analgesics, and anesthetics. - The Alternative Medicine in Dentistry chapter discusses chemicals used as alternative medicines and assesses their potential benefits and risks. - The Nonopioid Analgesics chapter groups together non-opioid analgesics, nonsterioidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and antirheumatic and antigout drugs, making these easier to locate and study. - Coverage of the endocrine system includes four separate chapters for the most comprehensive coverage. - Drug Interactions in Clinical Dentistry appendix lists potential interactions between drugs a patient is taking for nondental conditions and drugs that may be used or prescribed during dental treatment, including effects and recommendations. - Glossary of Abbreviations appendix includes the most common abbreviations used for drugs or conditions. - New Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics chapter covers the effects of genetic traits of patients on their responses to drugs. - A NEW introductory section offers tips for the study of dental pharmacology and relates pharmacology to dental considerations. - An updated discussion of drug-drug interactions covers the harmful effects of mixing medications. - Coverage of adverse effects and mechanisms of COX-2 inhibitors, antibiotic prophylaxis, and antiplaque agents explains the dental risks relating to common drug treatments.