Why Dental Care is Healthcare
Did you know that your oral health can impact your overall health? Just like most parts of your body, the mouth accumulates bacteria (most of which are harmless). Proper oral health care combined with your body’s natural defense mechanisms, help control these bacteria from causing harm to your body. Your dental care routine such as flossing, daily brushing, and visits to a Northridge Dentist may also increase your health.
Without observing good oral hygiene, bacteria in the mouth may result in infections, including gum disease and tooth decay. Germs from the mouth can also reach the damaged parts in the heart through your bloodstream and result in endocarditis. Understanding why dental care qualifies as healthcare can help you make informed decisions about your overall health.
What Dental Care Means
Dental care is a broad term referring to the practices of keeping your mouth free of diseases and clean. These practices may include observing good oral hygiene and scheduling visits to the dentist. You may brush your teeth twice a day and clean between the teeth as a way of observing oral hygiene.
You may observe the following practices in your dental care plan:
- Flossing your teeth at least once every day
- Using a fluoride toothpaste (for preventing tooth decay and strengthening the tooth enamel)
- Replacing your toothbrush after three to four months
- Avoiding sweetened drinks and sweets
- Eating a healthy diet
- Saying no to smoking
- Having a dentist clean your teeth professionally once every six months
- Keeping teeth appliances such as retainers and dentures clean
During your regular visits to a dental clinic, consult with the dentist on how to floss your teeth You should also ask about the ideal toothbrush, mouth rinses or kinds of toothpaste to use and special appliances for your teeth. Consider calling your Northridge Dentist if you experience pain in the tooth or sensitivity when taking cold or hot drinks or foods.
How Dental Care Qualifies as Healthcare
In the modern world, healthcare involves every device, service, and aspect needed to take care of your overall health properly. Middlemen such as insurers and the government have their own definition of the healthcare they want you to receive. However, healthcare is an ecosystem with various parts favoring the individual needs of patients.
Healthcare can include services, payment mechanisms, and goods used to achieve and maintain a person’s health. It may include (though not limited to) hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, physical therapy offices, health insurance companies, labs and physician offices, among others. You’ll only interact with one or more of them based on your current condition and needs.
Health professionals usually deliver healthcare by preventing, diagnosing, and treating illnesses, diseases, injuries, and mental and physical impairments. Professions such as nursing, dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy, among others, are part of the healthcare industry. Dental care qualifies as healthcare since it helps prevent, diagnose, and treat oral diseases, injuries, and illnesses as well.
Dental care can be administered by a dental team made up of a dentist and his/her dental auxiliaries. Dental auxiliaries may include dental therapists, dental technicians, dental hygienists, and dental assistants. You may seek their services from dental hospitals, private practices, or institutions (including armed forces bases or prisons).
Do Government Regulations on Healthcare Affect Dental Care?
The healthcare cost crisis in the US started with the government passing Medicaid and Medicare. With these programs, the US government increased the demand for healthcare and restricted the nationwide supply of hospitals and doctors. Most policymakers believe that increasing the supply of hospitals and doctors will result in consumers ordering more expensive and unnecessary healthcare.
Economists argue that the government is using Medicaid and Medicare programs to control the quality and price of services rendered by hospitals and physicians. What the government doesn’t understand is that consumers want to pay the lowest healthcare premiums for the most benefits. Real growth, increased efficiency, lower prices, and great access to medical care can only be achieved in healthcare once the government satisfies consumer demands for quality.
Additionally, regulating the quality of healthcare in the US, the government also ensures healthcare safety for the public through its administrative bodies. In dental care, the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) carry out this role. Both the ADA and FDA ensure the efficacy and safety of dental products and allow dental care practitioners to recommend these products confidently.
Improving Access to and Provision of Dental Care Services
The oral health of US citizens has significantly improved over the past 50 years with oral diseases and disorders becoming less common. Our country falls behind in promoting oral health care since there’s still a limited supply of dental care providers and inadequate insurance coverage. Dental care disparities also exist between different cultures, ages, and income levels.
US citizens finance about 6 percent of their oral care needs with Medicaid programs. They finance the remaining 96 percent with out-of-pocket expenses or private insurance coverage. It’s sad to note that more than 108 million adults and children in the US lack dental insurance coverage.
While most people rely on public programs such as Medicaid to pay for dental care services, these programs are limited in scope. Private dental insurance, which may cover oral surgery, periodontal care, and preventive care, is their best hope to seeking proper dental care services. The worrying part is that private insurance coverage may seem expensive to low-income earners.
There seems to be a limited supply of dental care providers in the US. With this shortage of experts, US citizens are finding it hard to obtain quality dental care. It is time for dental schools to begin increasing their class sizes to increase the number of graduating dentists.
States should increase citizens’ access to preventive dental care by allowing dental auxiliaries to offer oral health services independently. Students looking to join dental schools should also receive incentives such as tuition reimbursement, loan repayment, or scholarship programs to make them more willing to study dentistry.
Important Target Groups in Dental Care
Older people, school children, and the youth are usually considered important target groups in dental care just like in healthcare. Though healthcare services are supposed to target everyone regardless of their ages or backgrounds, children and older people are the most vulnerable ones. Improving access to dental care to these vulnerable groups can help grow the dental care industry.
Older People
About 30 percent of older people (with ages ranging from 65 to 74 years) suffer from tooth loss in the country. Older people are also vulnerable to oral diseases such as oral cancer, periodontal pocketing, and xerostomia. Oral diseases may develop cumulatively or be compounded by chronic diseases and poor general health.
Poor oral health in older people can pose greater risks to general health and affect a person’s eating and chewing abilities. Without quality dental care, people aged from 64 to 74 years are at risk of suffering other oral diseases and experiencing altered senses of smell and taste. Older people with poor housing, deprived living conditions, poor income, and low education background may strongly be affected by the lack of dental care.
The Youth and School Children
As part of their growth and development, young children may lose their teeth. Their teeth may also be susceptible to tooth decay and gum disorders if they excessively consume sugary foods. Besides being taken to the dentist for regular dental checkups, the youth and school children need to learn proper oral hygiene.
One way of promoting oral health amongst children and the youth is by allowing them to access clean water and ideal oral hygiene programs. Since the burden that oral diseases have in children’s health is significant, dental care providers should intervene as early as possible. Parents should also have their children expertly assessed to prevent, diagnose, or treat these diseases.
What the Future Holds for the Dental Care Industry
The new innovations and technologies being introduced in the healthcare industry makes the industry change and develop each year. The same applies to the dental care industry, where the practitioners are focusing on offering more personalized and real-time monitoring services. Data management and IT will continue being a great force in dental care as it is in the healthcare industry.
Dental practitioners are likely to focus on individualized, preventive treatment programs in the future. In addition to understanding a dental condition, they’ll be figuring out how the condition came to be. Their work will also involve identifying the potential risk factors and patient’s needs with respect to oral disease.
New computer-based programs will help dentists assess the risk factors for suffering from oral diseases. Dental practitioners will also use non-invasive tests to identify these risk factors and enhance patients’ quality of life. The entire dentistry practice will likely change thanks to the advances in less-invasive surgical procedures and imaging technologies.
Final Thoughts
While the future of dental care seems imminent, maintaining our oral hygiene at the present can put us at a lesser risk needing urgent dental care in the coming years. It helps if you observe oral hygiene practices such as flossing and brushing your teeth and taking healthy meals regularly. With help from a Northridge Dentist, you can also overcome your dental problems. All in all, an investment to your oral care contributes positively to your overall health.
