Receiving Preventive Care Among Tips To Stay Healthy And Live Longer

        In an article and broadcast on its website, shares tips on how to stay healthy and live longer, while avoiding hip fractures. The tips include standing on one leg at a time while brushing teeth for two minutes to help with balance, along with incorporating jumping into exercise routines, receiving enough calcium and vitamin D3 each day, and managing stress. TODAY also emphasizes the importance of preventive care, including dental visits, to maintain health and avoid higher health costs in the future.

        MouthHealthy.org provides oral health information by life stages, including for adults between 40 and 60 and adults over 60.

Delta Dental Survey: Dentists Top List Of Health Practitioners Americans Want To See More Of

In a release on PRNewswire (1/4), the Delta Dental Plans Association states that “dentists lead the pack of health practitioners adults want to see more,” according to its 2016 Adult Oral Health Survey. The survey finds that “41 percent of American adults reported they do not get to the dentist as often as they’d like,” followed by dermatologists at 28 percent. According to the survey, adults who brush their teeth less than twice a day report wanting to see the dentist more than those who brush their teeth more often. “Seeing the dentist regularly is an important part of maintaining good oral health,” said Bill Kohn, DDS, Delta Dental Plans Association’s vice president of dental science and policy. “We’re at least glad to see that even those who aren’t getting to the dentist as often as they’d like, recognize the importance of making more time to do so.”

        WAND-TV Champaign, IL (1/4) reports that in Illinois, the survey finds 43 percent of adults report they do not visit the dentist as often as they’d like.

A Mom’s Guide to Fluoride

Treating cavities is important, but preventing cavities is best. That’s where fluoride comes in. Millions of children in the United States and around the world have been spared thanks to fluoride in tap water, toothpaste and routine dental checkups starting no later than a child’s first birthday.

Your patients who are parents may have a lot of questions about fluoride. We’ve got answers for them in a guide written for parents by a parent: dentist and Harvard researcher Dr. Brittany Seymour.

Share this fluoride guide with your patients today, and start the conversation that could lead to a lifetime of healthy smiles for their children.

Study Suggests Preventive Dental Care Will Increase In The Future

In The Hill “Congress Blog,” the authors of the article “Projections of Dental Care Use Through 2026: Preventive Care To Increase While Treatment Will Decline,” which was published in the December 2016 issue of Health Affairs, discuss their findings. Using data from the 1996-2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a forecasting model suggests visits for preventive dental care are projected to increase in the future, while visits for dental treatment are expected to decline. “More prevention and less treatment means significant savings for individuals and government – measured in both individual pain and suffering as well as dollars and cents,” the authors say.

Research Aims To Help Humans Grow New Teeth

BBC News (UK) discussed recent research that suggests someday people may be able to grow or repair their teeth, using “healthy, living tissue.” For example, the article noted a lab at King’s College London has “successfully implanted bio-teeth into mice,” while other “recent approaches have focused on finding ways to get our teeth to heal themselves.” The article stated that despite this research, preventing dental decay is still essential. “The most important ... thing for us to keep in mind in terms of prevention is water – especially fluoridated water,” said ADA spokesperson Dr. Ruchi Sahota. “Not only does the fluoride help mineralise and regenerate tooth structures that may have become infected by a cavity, the physical motion of drinking water helps to flush away food, bacteria and any debris that may be stuck in your teeth as well.”

Benefits Of Community Water Fluoridation Discussed

USA Today carried a Kaiser Health News article discussing fluoridation, noting the CDC considers fluoridation to be “one of the 10 top public health achievements of the 20th century,” reducing tooth decay by about 25 percent in children and adults. “A big thing about community water fluoridation is that it’s a passive intervention, you don’t really have to do anything other than drink tap water,” said Katherine Weno, oral health director at the CDC. The article noted the American Dental Association and the World Health Organization also support fluoridation.

        Meanwhile, the Daily Caller reported that scientists at Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council analyzed “60 years of research and 3,000 scientific studies,” finding “fluoride in drinking water is safe.” According to the article, “Researchers found that fluoride in water has no adverse health effects at the levels used in Australia, and that the substance is not linked to low IQ, cancer, or cognitive problems.” The researchers found the “only result” of fluoridation was “reduction of the effects of tooth decay by 26 to 44 percent in children.” The article notes that the ADA supports fluoridation, estimating that “every $1 invested in water fluoridation saves $38 in dental treatment costs.”