How Poor Oral Hygiene Affects Your Mental Health and the Reverse

Taking care of your teeth and mouth is generally more than just keeping your teeth clean and breath smelling good. Your mental health must allow you to take care of your oral health. Studies have shown that those who have poor mental health may end up losing their teeth at a much faster rate. If one is depressed, for example, even brushing your teeth is a hard task, which can lead to tooth decay. Poor oral health affects your teeth and can affect your mental health. A first way that poor oral health affects your mental health is due to affecting your confidence. If you have missing or rotting teeth due to poor oral health or because of tooth disease, it can definitely hurt your confidence. When you speak, the first thing people see is your teeth, and people can … Read more

A Counseling Model for Dental Students

An interesting article titled “The Embedded Counseling Model: An Application to Dental Students” written by David Francis Adams appears in the January 2017 edition of the Journal of Dental Education (vol. 81, no. 1, pp. 29-35). The article discusses a study performed at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry to study the impact of a counseling program. The study was motivated by prior studies that have shown that high rates of stress, anxiety, and mood problems are prevalent among dental students and and can lead to health issues and substance abuse. Similar types of issues were previously addressed in the post titled Designing a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum To Help With Therapy Issues such as Stress Management and Suicide Prevention. In the article, at the University of Iowa collaboration occurred between the dental school and the university counseling service that … Read more

Designing a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum To Help With Therapy Issues such as Stress Management and Suicide Prevention

An interesting article titled “Tackling Stress Management, Addiction, and Suicide Prevention in a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum” by Brondani et al. appears in the Journal of Dental Education, vol. 78, no. 9, pp. 1286-1293, September, 2014. The article discusses many issues commonly dealt with in therapy such as stress management, addiction, and suicide prevention being incorporated into a predoctoral dental curriculum. The article discusses how a lot of research has been conducted over the years regarding ways for health professionals to cope with depression and stress. In such works, dentists have been singed out as among the most likely to experience severe stress, depression, and substance abuse. The article mentions how dentists are considered to have some of the highest rates of deliberate self-harm such as suicide among all health professionals. Reasons for suicide can often be a consequence of an … Read more

Delivering Dentistry and Counseling to Patients using Telemedicine

Nowadays it is possible to receive dental care, healthcare, and even counseling from the comfort of your own home. Teledentistry is defined as using electronic information including interactive audio, video, and data communications to provide and support dental care including consultation, diagnosis, and treatment where the care occurs virtually from where the oral health professional is licensed. Such care is essentially delivered online like many other aspects of life is increasingly becoming such as buying clothes and paying bills. Teledentistry includes the use of a live, two-way interaction between a patient and a dentist using interactive audiovisual telecommunications technology. Teledentistry includes the transmission of recorded health information such as radiographs through a secure electronic communications system to a dentist, who uses the information to evaluate or diagnose the patient’s condition or provide a service. Teledentistry includes personal health and medical data collection from an … Read more