Preventing, diagnosing, and treating diseases and disorders of the oral cavity and related structures is the responsibility of the Dedham, MA dental practice. Although most of the population obtains excellent oral health care, a considerable portion of the population cannot receive it regularly.
Dentists’ Scope of practice has to be rethought and enlarged, and recommendations to develop mid-level providers. Various primary health care activities can be performed in the dentist’s office, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dermatopathology screenings, smoking prevention and cessation activities, and obesity interventions.
The Scope of dental practice.
Dental technology advancements have dramatically improved practitioners’ capacity to restore tooth structure, replace missing teeth, and transform the appearance of internally or extrinsically stained or mispositioned teeth. These procedures produce some of the most aesthetically beautiful and functionally efficient outcomes in the medical field. The profession has strongly emphasized this technical element of care, with a recent focus on innovative restorative materials and Osseointegrated implants to replace missing teeth.
Importance of Dental Practices
Today, a dentist spends most of their time on indirect patient care, with only a little time spent on patient evaluation and engagement with other health professionals. Fundamental changes in dental education will be required to achieve the goal of educating dentists as part of healthcare teams. The impact of patients’ general health on the provision of oral health care should be emphasized more in the predoctoral curriculum.
Although dentistry has made significant advances in clinical care, it has struggled for decades to define its more general relationship to patient health, particularly the importance of oral health to overall health. The patients’ ability to tolerate dental care and any care changes that may be required before they may be treated successfully. Patients having prosthetic heart valves, for example, will need antibiotic prophylactics before dental treatment.
A variety of diseases and disorders can impact oral health. Patients with poorly controlled diabetes, for example, are more likely to develop periodontal disease. Furthermore, oral symptoms are a common feature of HIV-infected patients’ presentations. Early in the HIV epidemic, distinct oral lesions were identified, and they can be helpful in disease staging.
Dentists can provide care that goes beyond the Scope of typical dental procedures. Including some primary health care activities as part of standard dental care can help dentists better manage their patients’ oral health care needs. Simultaneously, general patient health may improve due to primary care activities performed during dental appointments, which may lead to appropriate referrals to other sectors of the health care system.
