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"Sanford solves facility reimbursement delays"
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The State Mutual Dental Plan...

Available exclusively through the Sanford Company, the State Mutual Dental Plan provides long term care residents access to the dental services you've been looking for!
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IMPORTANCE OF DENTAL CARE IN THE NURSING HOME ENVIRONMENT
POOR ORAL HEALTH CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS HEALTH COMPLICATIONS

Nursing home residents are especially susceptible to health problems that are directly related to poor oral and dental care. The signs of poor oral health are usually obvious to healthcare providers and to the families of the residents. What is not so obvious to either group are the serious health outcomes that can result from oral and dental neglect in this vulnerable population.

SIGNS OF POOR ORAL HEALTH
  • MOUTH PAIN
  • BLEEDING GUMS
  • BAD BREATH
  • RED SWOLLEN GUMS
  • VISIBLE FOOD DEBRIS
  • SWOLLEN FACE
  • HEAVY PLAQUE BUILDUP
  • HEAVY TARTAR BUILDUP
  • DRY MOUTH
  • BADLY FITTING DENTURES
  • HITE COATING IN MOUTH
  • PUS AT GUMLINE
  • LOOSE TEETH
  • CHIPPED TEETH

SERIOUS HEALTH OUTCOMES
  • CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
  • BACTERIAL ENDOCARDITIS
  • ASPIRATION PNEUMONIA
  • INFECTED PACEMAKER
  • INFECTED PROSTHETIC JOINTS (KNEE, HIP, SHOULDER)
  • SEPTICEMIA
  • OSTEONECROSIS
  • ABCESSES
  • NUTRITION RELATED ILLNESSES
  • CANDIDIASIS (THRUSH)
  • PERIODONTAL (GUM) DISEASE
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POOR ORAL HEALTH COMPROMISES RESIDENT COMFORT AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Everyone feels better when their mouth is clean, including our facility residents. Their breath is fresher, food tastes better, their teeth look nicer, and they are much more comfortable. They feel better about themselves, and their family notices the excellent oral care they are receiving from you.

Also, patients in the nursing home with poor oral health are more susceptible to oral infections and dental abcesses. These can result in painful dental emergencies and can create a life threatening situation for the more fragile resident. Daily oral hygiene help from the nursing staff, along with regular professional dental treatment by the DYNAMIC MOBILE DENTISTRY staff, can reduce the incidence of dental emergencies in the facility.

You should try this. Go one week without brushing your own teeth. See how you like the way your mouth feels and your breath smells. Then think about how your patients must feel when they don't receive daily oral hygiene care.
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POOR ORAL HEALTH RESULTING FROM DECLINING PHYSICAL & MENTAL HEALTH

FACTORS CAUSING POOR ORAL HEALTH
  • Medications that cause residents mouths to be extremely dry, increases decay of the roots of the teeth
  • Inability to wear dentures
  • Declining motor skills or other physical handicaps
  • Decreased mental acuity
HOW TO PREVENT POOR ORAL HEALTH
  • Be aware of the challenges that our residents face in caring for their mouth and teeth
  • Identify patients who cannot care for their mouths, and then we must do it for them
  • Make sure that our residents are receiving excellent daily oral hygiene care
  • Take out and rinse off their dentures and partials after meals
  • Swab out the mouths of our edentulous patients after meals
  • Brush the teeth of our residents who have their own natural dentition
Help educate the residents and their family members on proper oral care and how to receive professional care from Dynamic Mobile Dentistry

WHAT CAN WE DO TO IMPROVE THE ORAL HEALTH OF OUR RESIDENTS?

The DYNAMIC MOBILE DENTISTRY staff and this facility's staff can form a TEAM that is dedicated to maintaining excellent oral health care for our residents. Our jobs are different, but we are working for the same goal.

Our goal at DYNAMIC is to get the patient's mouth in a condition that is easier for the resident and the staff to keep clean. The DYNAMIC dentist will remove odor causing tartar buildup from the patient's teeth every six months. Often this tartar has been building up for many years, and is impossible for the patient or the nursing staff to remove it. Our dentist will fill cavities and extract hopeless teeth in an effort to eliminate food and plaque traps which will make the patient's mouth more hygienic. We will evaluate, repair, reline or if necessary, replace poorly fitting dentures and partials.

The goal of the NURSING STAFF is to provide daily oral hygiene care to the residents. This should include removing the resident's dentures and partials after every meal and rinsing them in water. You should also rinse the resident's mouth to remove food particles. You should be sure that the patient takes his dentures out at night to give his oral tissues time to recover. Dentures and partials should be kept wet in a denture cup when not in use. For patients with natural teeth, the staff should insure that the teeth are brushed after every meal.

The facility staff can help the DYNAMIC team by making us aware of any problems that a resident may be experiencing, so that we can handle emergencies in a timely manner. Finally, when the DYNAMIC team is in your facility, it is quite helpful to us if you would keep a steady stream of patients coming to our treatment area so that we can treat as many residents as possible while we are there.