mental health

Improving the Mental Health of Oral Surgeons

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Before on this site mental health of dentists has been discussed and particularly addressing mental health issues early on such as during dental education see for example the posts A Counseling Model for Dental Students, Designing a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum To Help With Therapy Issues such as Stress Management and Suicide Prevention, and Medical Students Are At Risk For Suicide. However, many oral surgeons are still afraid to own up to any mental health issues they may have. This is discussed in the editorial titled “Time to change the narrative” appearing in Oral Surgery in 2018 (vol. 11, pp. 97–97). The editorial discusses how oral surgery is increasing a stressful profession. This is because of increasing threats of litigation along with patients increasing having higher expectations of surgical outcomes. The traits that define a good surgeon are those who put … 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

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

Providing Dental Care for Adults with Mental Health Disorders: Can Increased Interaction with Therapists Help?

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An interesting article titled “Providing oral care for adults with mental health disorders: Dental professionals’ perceptions and experiences in Perth, Western Australia” written by Clair Scrine, Angela Durey, and Linda Slack-Smith, appears in Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology (pp. 1–7, 2018). The article sought out to explore dental professionals’ perceptions and experiences of providing oral health care for adults with mild to moderate mental health disorders in Perth, Western Australia. The article suggests that people with mental health disorders have poorer oral health outcomes and are even less likely to receive dental care. In Australia those with several mental health disorders are more likely to have decayed, missing or filled teeth than the general population. It is believed that access to care and affordability in Australia limit those with mental health disorders from receiving dental care. Most of the dental care (~85%) in Australia is through the private sector. The authors … Read more

Will Dental School Debt Lead to Future Counseling?

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Future dentists these days are being subjected to large amount of loans that are necessary as a part of dental school. This topic has been covered a bit before on this site, see for example https://blog.teethremoval.com/medical-school-student-costs-in-the-u-s-are-affecting-mental-health/ and https://blog.teethremoval.com/medical-students-are-at-risk-for-suicide/. This topic has also been recently discussed on the American Dental Association (ADA) Viewpoint and Letters to the Editor. In an April 18, 2016, letter titled “Dental student loan debt” Dr. Sparkman from Texas said If most dental students today are borrowing over $200,000 to get out of dental school then I have part of the solution in three words. Get a job. Dr. LeMert a 2009 dental school graduate from the state of Washington took issue with this position and found Dr. Sparkman’s position laughable.  He said in a May 16, 2016 letter titled “Dental school reality” Dental school itself was a 60 hour/week … Read more