- Brushing along with kids 'encourages good dental habits'
- Dentists go street' for Smile Month.
- Number of patients with dental abscesses has doubled, which is dangerous to life
- Aetna Introduces Dental-Only Insurance Plans for Individuals and Their Families.
Brushing along with kids 'encourages good dental habits'
Dania,FL,USA Parents of young children have been urged by dental health experts to spend time together while brushing their teeth, in order to develop good habits.
Dr Gary Stephenson of Oral-B suggested that parents should help their kids select "the right toothbrush and paste", as well as "being with them" while they clean their teeth.
"It can also be one of [your] special bonding moments with your child," he added.
His comments come after a survey conducted by the British Dental Health Foundation and Oral-B found that many parents have misconceptions about good oral health behaviors.
Some 25 percent of respondents with children under five said they did not see the necessity of brushing twice per day, while 23 percent did not realize carbonated drinks should be avoided.
Chief executive of the foundation Dr Nigel Carter said that the tendency to consider dental health "of secondary importance to general health" was "wrong" and echoed Dr Stephenson's suggestions for encouraging children's brushing.
The Chicago Dental Society recently recommended that parents begin to take their youngsters to the dentist from six months of age.
Source: http://www.dentalplans.com/articles/33352/Dentists go street’ for Smile Month
In a similar style to BBC TV’s Street Doctor, the dental check-ups were part of a number of activities to mark NHS 60 – the 60th anniversary of the National Health Service – and National Smile Month, which runs from 18 May to 17 June.
Children attending were given a goody bag with toothpaste, a toothbrush and leaflets on healthy eating and how to look after their teeth.
It was organised by the North East Essex Primary Care Trust (PCT) and gave children aged between two and 11 the chance to make sure their teeth were in good shape.
Kathy Flegg, from the PCT, said: ‘The focus of all of our National Smile Month activities will be children because we believe that if we can educate them at a young age and make them familiar with dentists, this preventive approach will set them up for good dental health in later life.
‘Our target is to reach out to 2,000 children during National Smile Month.
‘Individual dental practices have held events to mark National Smile Month in the past but this is the first time that the PCT itself has become involved.
‘We want to increase awareness of dental health and celebrate the fact that dentistry is a very important part of the National Health Service as it celebrates its 60th year and also that North East Essex PCT is this year increasing its investment in dentistry.’
Many dental practices in Colchester also held children-only days or arrange higher numbers of child appointments than normal.
A spokesperson said: ‘In general terms, the PCT was pleased with how it all went.’
Source: June 2nd, 2008 by Dentistry Editorial TeamNumber of patients with dental abscesses has doubled, which is dangerous to life
Mumbai,Maharashtra,India -According to a new research from the University of Bristol, people do not pay attention to dental problems and this has doubled the cases of dental surgeries. Although the patients were aware of the serious infections which could have been prevented with regular dental care.The findings plan on creating a greater impact and bring about a decline in the oral health, changes in the way of accessing dental treatment and even changes in attitudes to dental care.
Dr Steve Thomas and colleagues from the Division of Maxillofacial Surgery and Department of Oral and Dental Science surveyed the study by using the daily NHS content on hospital admissions and he came across three complicated cases of dental abscess which occurred within the period of 6 months in the year 2006.
In all these 3 cases, patients approached the hospital when the individuals met with an accident and had to be admitted in the Emergency department and that is the time their undiagnosed dental problems were noticed. The first case occurred in the month of March 2006 with a 48 year old woman who didn’t visit the dental clinic and was undiagnosed as an abscess. When the condition worsened, she was admitted in the Critical Care Unit for treatment and was suffering from Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome. She spent 44 days; firstly 22 days under the Critical Care Unit and secondly in the surgical ward for other 22 days; after being referred to the Emergency Unit by her GP.
In the second case in May 2006 a 48 year old man was admitted to the A&E Department at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol and he hadn’t even registered himself with a dentist. The Frenchay Hospital, Bristol prescribed him some antibiotics and advised him to look out for a dentist and undergo a treatment. He ignored it and landed into coma where he was again admitted to the Critical Care Unit where he was diagnosed with diabetic keto-acidosis (a diabetic condition which can lead to coma) and the neck abscess drained. He spent three weeks in the Critical Care Unit.
In the third case in July 2006 a 41 year old women noticed had swelling on the left side of her face. Mumps were found. After seven days she went to the A&E department of Bristol Royal Infirmary with an abscess. Even in this scenario, the patient was not registered with a dentist.
“Most serious dental infections are preventable with regular dental care. Indeed, this is the rationale for regular dental check-ups,” said lead researcher Steven Thomas. Indeed, this is the rationale for regular dental check-ups. “Changes in service provision could, therefore, have resulted in reduced provision of routine dental care and access to emergency dental care.”
Although some of the recent studies reported that there have been improvements in oral health, thus now it requires detailed explanation for the increase in hospital admissions. But the paper suggests that the dramatic increase for the lack of dental care is mostly because of the changes in the provision of dental care in UK. There has also been a major shortage of dentists in the NHS. And most of the dentists moved to private sector jobs with new contracts lured by the pay roll.
Therefore the number of dental patients present in the NHS has fallen from 23 million to 17 million from 1994 to 2004. Patients might have stopped going to the dentist for their routine dental check ups looking at such new provisions and may prefer going to the dentist during emergency dental care, thus resulting in the rise of surgical admissions.
Speaking about the findings, Dr Thomas said:
‘Dental abscess is a serious problem and can be life threatening. In the past ten years the incidence of dental abscesses requiring surgical drainage in hospital has doubled. The reasons for this increase need to be identified and robust measures taken to ensure the epidemic are controlled.’
A survey conducted by the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health has found a different reason altogether that the issue lied with people not seeking dental care. Although a recent survey of 5,200 members of the public and 750 dentists has found out that 22 percent of the people had reduced the number of visits to the dentist because of the high fees and 84 percent of the dentists believed that their new contract didn’t have improved access to NHS service.
The findings have been published in the British Medical Journal on 30th May 2008.
Source: http://www.healthjockey.com/category/dental/Aetna Introduces Dental-Only Insurance Plans for Individuals and Their Families
San Francisco,CA,USA-Aetna (NYSE:AET) announced today that it has begun selling stand-alone dental plans to individuals and families, which are now effective as of June 1, 2008. These new products will initially be offered in Arizona, Delaware, Illinois and Pennsylvania, with plans to expand their availability to additional states in the future.
Individuals, including those who are eligible for Medicare, will be able to purchase these plans at any age. In addition, there will be no medical underwriting, meaning that individuals are automatically accepted if they apply (prices will vary based on age and geographic region).
There will be two PPO-style options for individuals to choose from – the Aetna Individual AdvantageSM Dental PPO Plan and the Aetna Individual AdvantageSM Dental PPO Plus Plan. Both plans will give members access to Aetna ’ s PPO network of participating dental practices, which includes more than 105,000 available dental practice locations throughout the country.
“The fact that 47 million individuals in our country do not have health insurance is often mentioned, but it is rarely noted that more than twice as many individuals lack dental insurance,” said Frank McCauley, head of Aetna ’ s Consumer Business Segment. “ We believe that a stand-alone dental product will help increase access to important dental care. ”
Aetna ’s Emphasis on Dental Health
Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated the connection between dental health and overall health. This includes research conducted by Aetna and the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine that shows a correlation between periodontal disease and individuals with chronic conditions, including people with diabetes or heart disease.
“Our research with Columbia indicates that promoting preventive dental care can have an impact on the overall wellness of our members,” said Alan Hirschberg, head of Aetna Dental.
In addition to this research, Aetna has worked with Columbia to develop a number of continuing education courses for participating dentists on the connection between dental health and overall health.
Health Insurance Plans for Individuals
In addition to this stand-alone dental product, all of Aetna ’s individual health insurance plans give members the option of adding on a dental PPO plan (the optional plan is not the same as the stand-alone dental product offerings).
Aetna’s health insurance plans for Individuals and Families are currently being sold directly to consumers or through independent insurance agents and brokers in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming and Washington, D.C. Additional information about Aetna’s plans for individuals and their families is available at www.AetnaIndividual.com or by calling 1-866-582-9629 or your insurance agent.
About Aetna Dental
Aetna Dental is one of the nation ’s leading providers of integrated and stand-alone dental products, serving more than 14 million dental members. In 2006, Aetna launched its Dental/Medical Integration program, which includes enhanced benefits and educational outreach to members, helping them achieve optimal health. Aetna is the brand name used for products and services provided by one or more of the Aetna group of subsidiary companies. The Aetna companies that offer, underwrite or administer dental benefits coverage include Aetna Health Inc., Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of the Carolinas Inc., Aetna Health of Illinois Inc., Aetna Health Insurance Company of New York, Corporate Health Insurance Company, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc. and/or Aetna Life Insurance Company.
About Aetna
Aetna is one of the nation ’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 37.3 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates.
