The minority community faces many challenges when it comes to dental health. Oral health in the U.S. has improved over the past half-century. But it’s still a significant public health issue, and it affects low-income and minority populations in particular. When it comes to minority dental health, there are barriers to receiving care.
The American Optometry Association considers MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015), a fairly recent healthcare payment reform, to be a big win for optometrists. Why? Because it distinguishes optometrists as physicians. Why is this important? It means that while optometrists are subject to the quality standards established by the new legislation, they are also eligible for the incentives that will be awarded to clinicians who meet the standards. As a result, it’s important for optometrists to understand this reform, the criteria that’s used to evaluate the overall quality of a physician’s services and the two avenues they can use to grow their payments from this federal health insurance program.
A concerned parent of a young soccer star is with his child at your office with damage to his teeth. “But he was wearing a mouth guard…” the father explains. Despite the good intentions of this dad, and many parents and guardians with like thinking, what they don't know is that not all mouthguards are created equal.
April marks Child Abuse Awareness Month. As professionals who typically have frequent contact with children, dentists are obligated to document and report suspected cases of abuse in all states. They are not obligated to prove abuse or neglect, but just to report what is suspected. Dental hygienists may be similarly obligated, depending on the state in which they work.
It is estimated that 90 million or more Americans snore and about 30 million suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA causes both physical and emotional issues that go beyond just the patient, but impact the entire family. Symptoms that are experienced as a result of OSA and Sleep Disordered Breathing Syndromes (SDB) include:
Topics: dentistry, sleep apnea, dentistry and sleeping
Which of the five senses do people worry about losing the most? Vision. When talking with your patients, it’s important to remind them about taking good care of their vision. Without vision, life becomes infinitely more challenging. In addition to the loss of independence, vision loss can also lead to:
Topics: vision issues and driving, vision benefits, eye health awareness, vision
March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month, which is a time to raise awareness about standard eye safety protocols, review training for employees that involves eye safety in the workplace and double check that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements are being met by places of work. As an eye care provider, this is a good time to talk with your patients about keeping their eyes safe at work.
Patient Safety Awareness Week, a campaign of the National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), is March 13-19, 2016. The goal of the program is to increase awareness of patient safety among healthcare professionals and the general public. What can your office do to support a safety-first experience?
As an eye care provider, you are very knowledgeable about diseases, diagnoses, and treatments. Your patients, however, may never have even heard of the names of eye diseases before. To patients, the names may sound quite scary. Vision literacy allows your patients to stay informed and ensure they fully understand their options. Keep in mind the following tips for providing your patients with vision literacy.
Topics: provider tips, vision
As a dentist, you know your role in some people’s lives is the stuff of nightmares. Over a million Americans suffer from odontophobia, a fear of the dentist, and more than half avoid dental care because of it. In previous decades, people who had a fear of dental work or simply didn’t have access to care would resort to home remedies to curb their pain, such as using clove oil to soothe an achy tooth. Occasionally, people would attempt tooth extractions in extreme circumstances. These days, what was once a “case by case” issue has become a widespread phenomenon, largely due to the broad reach of the internet. Searching Google or YouTube for “DIY Dentist” yields literally thousands of articles, websites and videos all promising to help users “fix” their teeth without the aid of a dentist. The trend seems to have initially risen to popularity overseas in Great Britain, however more and more Americans are resorting to these risky methods. Here are three popular, but dangerous, DIY dentistry trends:
Topics: trends, DIY Dentistry, do it yourself, fear of the dentist
