Positive Thinking!

Posted on January 26, 2012

The current doom and gloom in the media at present is enough to make even the most cheerful person sink into the depths of despair! Continuing problems with the Euro, a shipping disaster, a major supermarket issuing a profits warning and unemployment up again – the list goes on and on! Christmas is now well and truly over and the New Year no longer seems new, so, in the long dark evenings what is there to cheer everyone up?

One of the major UK dental magazines has just landed on my desk and in the current climate I hardly dared open it, but courage was rewarded. Amongst the problems and continuing talk of recession there were several contributions which were positive and, in the words of Roger Matthews from Denplan, “It’s a great time to be in dentistry!” Roger admitted that there were problems but spoke about how challenging times bring out the best in business. He went on to say that by undertaking a practice review now and making the best choices for patients not only would profitability increase but when the economic recovery comes profits would romp away.

Adding to this was a contribution from the Immediate Past President of the BDTA who said that the successful dentist would be looking at ways to keep the appointment book full. The BDTA has been running a campaign to convince the over 45s that they need to take care of their teeth and research from other organisations is expected to produce a public facing campaign to see how the dental industry can promote the industry to the public. This is in line with the long running proDente in Germany which aims to ensure that the Germans are aware that investment in oral health has positive benefits to overall health.

Although there were other positive contributions these two really caught my attention and enthusiasm because this is what Prevora is all about! Encouraging dentists to offer new initiatives to their patients, which act as practice builders, give patients what they want and encourage patients to look at good oral health as part of good overall health. To support this mantra Prevora will be running a patient facing media campaign in the south of England in Spring 2012 and dentists who are interested in being part of this campaign and have their practice featured should contact us on 01483 246303 for further details.

Still much to be positive about and here’s to a great 2012!

Penny Hardaker

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Health Seeking Activity is a Major Factor on Health Care Purchasing

Posted on January 23, 2012

The Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, DC recently reported that 50% of American adults seek information about a personal health concern from a source other than their doctor. And nearly two in five American adults reported seeking health information on behalf of another person in the previous 12 months.

Health seeking activity seems to have declined modestly since the recession and in tandem with the decline in print media. However, ten years ago only 38% of American adults reported any health seeking activity.

The Center found that more information is sought on the Internet and less from print media. Those most actively searching for health information are the better educated. People with a graduate education are twice as likely as those with no high school diploma to seek health information (67% vs. 33%)—a disparity that has grown since 2007. The gap between the most- and least-educated groups is even wider for Internet use (52% vs. 11%).
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Fluoride for the High Risk Adult Patient – Does it Work?

Posted on January 19, 2012

The December 2011 issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry offers a systematic review of studies of fluoride’s preventive effect in high risk adults. 1 (Prevora’s therapeutic indication defines high risk with two examples: having 3 or more cavities at the start of the treatment plan or suffering from dry mouth).

Here are the findings of the systematic review:
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Dentistry in a Decade

Posted on January 16, 2012

In a short article in the December 2011 issue of Dental Update, two dental students in the U.K. have prognosticated about their new profession. They identify some major trends over the next ten years in delivering dental care to an aging U.K. population.1

  • The restorations in many older patients will need replacement.
  • There will be a shift, subsequently, to maintaining new restorations until end of life.
  • An increasingly acidic diet (attributed to austerity and the price of food) will increase caries increment and caries prevalence.

These trends will surely raise interest in more preventive care by both the adult patients, and under capitated reimbursement, by the dental provider.

But I see other broader developments which will further the movement to more preventive care and radically change dentistry over this coming decade:
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Health Risk Assessments

Posted on January 12, 2012

The concept of risk assessment in managing chronic diseases has been around for many years. For example, it was first introduced by Canadian employers in the 1980s as a way of changing the behaviour of employees.

The early experience of health risk assessment was often disappointing. Without financial incentives and clear alternatives to treatment, behaviour of the patient, and often the provider, rarely changed sufficiently to make a difference.

Unless the patient can see a direct self-interest, an affordable alternative to treatment and/or a financial gain to change, old habits eventually resume.

So why bother doing a short risk assessment of your adult patients for caries? There are several reasons:
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Why She Buys

Posted on January 9, 2012

I am frequently struck by how rarely the older woman is portrayed in the media, particularly when it comes to personal services like dental care.

In family dentistry, the all-too-common imagery involves children. For example, posters in bus shelter or flyers in the mail from dental offices use a young family or just as often, young kids on a swing.

This approach ignores the fundamentals of demographics and income distribution in North American and European economies. The reality is that older women are now more numerous in many communities than children, have far more funding available for dental services, and generally are more in need of dental care.

Yet, because of the conventional imagery used by dentistry, this critical and growing segment often feels over-looked and misunderstood by the family dental office.
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Dental Phobia

Posted on January 9, 2012

It is no secret that many people are scared of visiting the dentist! The reasons for this are many; it could be a bad experience from childhood, the sound of the drill or just the thought of treatment. Whatever the reason too many people do not visit their dentist regularly or forego a necessary treatment. The result is poor oral health with all the problems that brings!

Working out where the problem lies can help overcome the fear and now the British dental Health Foundation is offering the following information for those who are afraid of dental treatment.
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The Trucker and the Scot

Posted on January 5, 2012

Among the icons of unhealthy lifestyle, the American trucker and the Scottish male are perhaps the most popular. Both are associated with poor diet, smoking, inactivity, obesity and early morbidities.

But it seems these icons may no longer exemplify health-avoiding behaviour. Rather they just might represent just the opposite: a change in lifestyle to emphasize health maintenance. Two recent reports brought this to my attention.

The New York Times reports the trucker is trying to amend his ways of fast food and no exercise:

“Now transportation carriers, industry organizations and even truck stops are unrolling initiatives to help truckers slim down, shape up and improve their health. Employers are holding health seminars, building on-site gyms, bringing in nutritionists and fitness trainers, and offering financial incentives to employees who stop smoking or lose weight. Some drivers are cooking in their rigs, walking or bike riding around truck stops, blogging about their experiences at sites like truckingsolutionsgroup.org and safetythruwellness.com, and writing books.”

(New York Times, November 21, 2011)

And according to the ongoing surveys of Scottish health, the older Scottish male appears to be eating more veggies and quitting cigarettes (Chart 1).
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The Risks Sugary Drinks Pose to Women

Posted on January 3, 2012

We hear much about the risk of sugary drinks in relation to good oral health but now a new study has found that women who drink two or more sugary drinks per day may be at higher risk of heart disease and diabetes. The study from the Northwestern University’s Department of Preventive Medicine in Chicago was presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Session (2011) in Orlando, Florida.

The study compared middle-aged and older women who drank two or more sugar sweetened drinks per day to those who drank one or less. They found that those drinking two or more drinks were significantly more likely to develop a bigger waist measurement and have impaired fasting levels of glucose. They were also nearly four times more likely to develop high triglycerides, a type of blood fat linked to increased heart disease.
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Patient Satisfaction – The Next Big Thing

Posted on December 19, 2011

As part of the reforms sweeping into American healthcare, a notable feature is how important patient satisfaction is becoming. Starting in October 2012, Medicare will start using patient satisfaction scores to determine part of the reimbursements for American hospitals.

Hence, American medicine has begun to focus on how it will improve patient satisfaction, and new terms such as “patient-centred” care are emerging. That is because if a patient feels betrayed or not listened to or just plain unhappy with his/her care, he/she can lower the amount of reimbursement money coming back to a hospital regardless of her outcome.

Welcome to the new healthcare consumer!
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