ORAL HEALTH MATTERS
We are passionate about teaching Oral Health Education to Long-Term Care Facility Staff
Oral Health Integrity, at Any Age
British Columbia has been experiencing a paradigm shift in the oral health industry.
Over the last couple of decades, baby boomers have been taking great care of their teeth. It’s common for people to spend a significant amount of money on high-end restorative dental work such as implants, veneers, and other cosmetic dentistry. The vast majority of people entering long-term care facilities have complex daily oral care needs. Long-term care staff require a more robust education on how to remove plaque from complex dental restorations.
Jennifer and her team are committed to providing long-term care staff with the training and education required to care for these residents effectively.
Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, you will do better — Maya Angelou
☺
Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, you will do better — Maya Angelou
☺
Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, you will do better — Maya Angelou ☺ Do the best you can until you know better. When you know better, you will do better — Maya Angelou ☺
Creating Progressive Mouth Care Champions
Our team of Oral Health Educators and Registered Dental Hygienists have created a system to educate the Progressive Nurses and Point of Care Staff who work directly with residents living in long-term care.
Through our guidelines, staff will be creating robust oral care plans for each resident.
We teach how the muscles of facial expression play a significant role in the success of daily mouth care.
Learners will have a better understanding of Xerostomia (dry mouth) and the appropriate care needed.
We provide informative guidelines on how to properly maintain implants and implant retained dentures.
We have taken the guesswork and mystery out of the admission requirements on how to accurately assess a new resident’s oral health.
Understanding swallowing patterns to assist with the timing for safe mouth opening of totally dependent residents.
Trusted Partners Since 2010
Our experienced team of Trusted Oral Health Educators have been delivering educational resources and oral health training since the company started in 2010.
We believe that Long Term Care staff have been doing their best with what they know, but its time for an Oral Health Education Upgrade as new and wonderful trends in Dentistry emerge, and we are seeing the new trends in LTC.
Oral Care Education For LTC Staff
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Oral Health Assessment Tool
The OHAT is a great tool to assess the baseline Oral Health of a new resident upon admission. It can be used as a guide when creating robust oral health care plans. There are many versions of the OHAT, we have added 2 printable versions below in the Resources section.
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Bacterial Plaque
Plaque, also called Biofilm is the sticky substance that creates a disease state in the mouth when left to fester on the teeth and gums. When Plaque is left along the gum line, it can create root decay which leads to larger issues.
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Muscles of Facial Expression
The muscles surrounding the mouth play an important role in the success of brushing someone’s teeth. Many residents who present with Parkinson's disease, or other neurological diseases are unable to voluntarily open their mouths and are especially prone to mouth care neglect.
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Mechanics of Tooth Brushing
There are many different types of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other mouth care adjuncts. The essential skill of “Bristles to Tooth” and the mechanical removal of bacterial plaque is an important role for the care staff. It is a skill that can be developed to an “ Champion Level” with education, practice, and ongoing guidance.
Benefits of Daily Brushing
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Preventing Complex Health Issues
Quality daily mouth care can decrease the risk of aspiration pneumonia, complications with diabetes control, periodontal disease, root decay, and tooth loss.
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Eliminate the Need for Pain Medication Due to Mouth Pain
Daily mouth care, when done on a consistent and “champion” level will eliminate the majority of issues creating gum and tooth pain. Keeping up with assessing the condition of the mouth through yearly OHAT exams, coupled with daily mouth care will prevent many of the issues that create mouth pain.
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Improved Quality of Life
Residents who receive excellent daily mouth care from a highly trained Mouth Care Champion can expect less mouth pain, greater enjoyment of food, higher self-esteem, more comfort in the mouth, and easier and more comfortable swallowing if they suffer from xerostomia.
“I am convinced that every neurologist should know more dentistry and that the average dentist would profit in many ways if he had more information about neurology”
Meet Our Hygiene Team
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Jennifer
Dental Hygiene Practitioner (c)
Local Anesthetic Certified -
Stephanie
Registered Dental Hygienist (c)
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Mary
Dental Hygiene Treatment Co-ordinator
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Charlotte
Dental Hygiene Auxillary staff
“Jennifer and her team have been providing oral health education for my staff since 2010. We have created an excellent daily oral health program and we follow the Progressive Mouth Care Champion protocol with our Point of Care staff. Families have been raving about their loved one’s clean teeth and fresh breath. We are confident with our mouth care abilities and understand the importance of the OHAT assessments. Thanks, Jennifer.”
