Improving oral health and oral health care delivery for children

National and state-level evidence has documented ongoing disparities in children's health and utilization of oral health care services, prompting a re-examination of factors associated with poor oral health and low use of oral health services. These efforts have yielded a wide array of proposals for improving children's oral health and oral health care delivery. This paper offers a perspective on the current context of efforts to improve children's oral health and oral health care delivery.     

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优秀的口腔医疗服务需要服务团队整体具备良好的人文素质和沟通能力,本文探讨了口腔医患沟通的相关问题：医患沟通不仅仅是介绍和推荐医疗项目,而是以表达关爱,交流信息和情感为基础,以积极的心态为前提;口腔医患沟通的参与者不仅是医生和患者两个人,还有团队、机构、行业以及患者的社会关系;本文还讨论了口腔医患沟通的技巧、内容以及如何提高医患沟通能力等方面的内容。希望对于缓解当今紧张复杂的医患关系提供一些帮助。     

Diagnosis of osteoporosis in oral health care

Summary Osteoporosis is characterized by an increased risk of bone fractures, affecting especially the forearm, vertebrae and hip. Women are more commonly affected than men because their peak bone density is usually less than that of men at adulthood and declines at the menopause. Early detection of osteoporosis is advisable to prevent the often devastating consequences of hip fracture later in life, though a mass screening programme is not considered cost‐effective. Once osteoporotic individuals are identified, drug treatment can be effective in increasing their bone mineral density and reducing fracture rates. Is it possible for dentists to accurately detect early osteoporotic changes on dental radiographs and the affected individuals to be referred to a medical specialist? If the radiographs were taken for other diagnostic purposes, this would increase the cost effectiveness of this regime.     

Policy and research in oral health care

The purpose of the paper is to highlight the interrelationship between social and health policy, and health services research. The principles and concepts in social and health policy in the Scandinavian welfare states are described with reference to oral health care. The concept of policy analysis is defined and distinctions are made between "analysis of policy", and "analysis for policy". The policy perspective is discussed with the focus on the planning - budgeting - implementation - evaluation cycle and related to the WHO Strategy for Health for All. Finally, the implications for oral health services research in Scandinavia are emphasized.     

National health care and the public's oral health

This article presents an outline of a proposal for a national health program, together with a discussion of the necessity of inclusion of dentistry for optimum benefit to the public. A thorough restructuring of current principles of coverage, benefits, methods of payment, administration, and methods of protection of the public is proposed. Disease prevention and the role and responsibility of public health dentistry would be enhanced in such a scheme. Current total dental care expenditures should be sufficient to cover most of the costs. It is the author's belief that further tinkering with the existing health care system and the application of more bandaids can only exacerbate existing problems.     

Immunizations and oral health care providers

Two very successful approaches aimed at preventing infectious diseases acquired in the dental office have introduced more vigilant infection control and barrier techniques as well as the use of specific immunizations. Special consideration is given to the subgroup of dental professionals at increased risk for common diseases that may prevail because of the location and demographics of their practices. A brief review of the basic principles of immunology and immunization is covered as well as immunizations and the medically compromised oral health care worker, the medically compromised patient, new vaccines that may be in the offing, and the future role of immunization for dentists.