Dental Anxiety and Fear: Impact on Oral Health

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An interesting article titled “From public mental health to community oral health: the impact of dental anxiety and fear on dental status,” by Crego et al. appears in frontiers in Public Health (vol. 2, art. no. 16, Feb. 2014). The article discusses a multidisciplinary approach to address dental fear and oral health. The article discusses how mental disorders can act as a barrier to seeking needed treatment and thus can adversely impact oral health. Further, physical problems and ailments can negatively impact mental health. This has been described as a vicious cycle which is found in dentistry. As one sees the dentist less their oral health worsens and this reinforces dental anxiety. These worse oral health problems typically require more intensive and expensive treatments. This results in some patients only seeing the dentist when treatment can not be avoided. In … Read more

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Current Perspectives on Opioid Prescribing

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Recently, both insurance companies and politicians in the U.S. have intensified their efforts to limit patients undergoing wisdom teeth surgery to have access to opioids to manage their pain. See the posts on this site: 1) Insurance Companies Limiting Access to Opioids After Wisdom Teeth Surgery and 2) The Effect of Opioid Prescription Limits For Wisdom Teeth Removal. Such efforts have intensified due to recent research showing that opioid prescriptions taken by young adults following wisdom teeth removal has contributed to the opioid addiction and abuse epidemic in the U.S. However, lost in these conversations is the perspectives from oral and maxillofacial surgeons. According to the 2017 white paper by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) titled “Opioid Prescribing: Acute and Postoperative Pain Management,” these surgeons feel: “… the practitioner-patient relationship must be upheld, allowing for practitioner … Read more

How Poor Oral Hygiene Affects Your Mental Health and the Reverse

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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

The Effect of Opioid Prescription Limits For Wisdom Teeth Removal

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Recently it has been discussed how insurance companies have begun to limit prescriptions for opioids for teenagers due to recent studies suggesting that many young adults may later become addicted to opioids as a result of wisdom teeth removal, see Insurance Companies Limiting Access to Opioids After Wisdom Teeth Surgery. In addition to insurance companies taking action, some politicians in the U.S. have proposed legislation to limit opioid prescriptions for seven days. On March 15 2019, U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (a Democrat from New York) and Cory Gardner (a Republican from Colorado) announced the John S. McCain Opioid Addiction and Prevention Act which would limit the supply of initial opioid prescriptions for acute pain to seven days. This bill would would create a seven-day prescription limit for opioids so that no more than a seven-day supply may be prescribed to … Read more

A Counseling Model for Dental Students

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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