NUR2227: Indigenous Children Dental Health iSAP Framework - Part A

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the oral health challenges faced by Indigenous children, focusing on the iSAP framework. It begins by defining oral health and outlining the consequences of poor dental health in this population, including tooth loss, pain, and increased risk of infe...Read More

Running head: ORAL HEALTH 1
Student Name
Student No.
Unit
Title: Indigenous Children Dental Health

ORAL HEALTH 2
iSAP Framework - Part A (1,350 words)
Your Chosen Population Group: INDIGENOUS CHILDREN
1. Background (~270 words)
Define dental/oral health (general definition), and briefly describe three consequences of
poor dental/oral health in children in relation to your chosen population. Please do not
remove these instructions. These instructions are not included in the assessment word
count.
The WHO (2018) claim that dental health is the prime indicator of one’s overall wellbeing,
health and quality of life. They define oral health as the state of being free from infections,
diseases and disorders that affect one’s ability to chew, smile, speak, bite or influence the
psychological wellbeing of an individual. These infections and diseases include periodontal
disease, throat and oral cancer, tooth loss, tooth decay, oral infection and sores, facial and
chronic mouth pains.
There are a lot of consequences that come along with poor oral hygiene. Health mouth
helps one speak, eat and socialize without pains or embarrassment. Oral disease create a lot
of discomfort. Poor oral health lead to prolonged and short term physical discomfort. Some
of the most common consequences of poor dental health are tooth loss, pain and infection.
These tend to cause difficulties in chewing, speaking, swallowing, cause disruption of
sleep and one’s productivity. Cavities are very common in children. They occur as
permanently damaged parts of the tooth or even holes. They are as a result of food, bacteria
or acid coating on the teeth, then forming a plague. The acid eats away the enamel and the
dentine, which could lead to a permanent teeth damage over time. Gum disease increases
one’s risk of being infected with respiratory infection like COPD and pneumonia. Damle
(2018) claims that tooth loss affects one’s general health as it deteriorates the diet and lead
to compromising one’s nutrition. Researcher link chronic oral diseases with infections such
as stroke, premature birth, lung diseases, heart infections and dementia among indigenous
children, as the mouth is an entry point for diseases.
Page 2 of 7 Assignment Number Date of submission

ORAL HEALTH 3
2. Assessment of Poster (~270 words)
Critically analyse the poster (strengths and weaknesses) in relation to your chosen
population and briefly discuss three possible barriers to implementing the suggested dental
hygiene practices. Please do not remove these instructions. These instructions are not
included in the assessment word count.
According to the poster, pea sized amount of fluoride tooth paste and a small head soft
brush should be used. The tooth paste should have a low concentration of fluorine. While
aiming the toothbrush to an angle, jiggle it and move it in small circles over the teeth and
the gum. Epstein (2018) thinks that this is right way for children to brush their teeth.
However, caution should be taken when jiggling the toothbrush on the gum. The children
gums are very tender and could be hurt easily. This is also the reason as to why a soft brush
is recommended. According to Wright et al. (2014) fluoride is thought to cause dental
fluorosis among young children, and that’s why it is recommended to use toothpaste size of
rice grain for children. This poster has not touched on how to minimize swallowing of the
paste. Wright et al. (2014) claim it could be dangerous. They recommend angling of the
child’s head downward so that the extra toothpaste dribbles out of the mouth.
Pesaressi, Villena, van der Sanden, Mulder and Frencken (2014) children rarely visit the
dentist due to cultural and country dependent factors. Children only visit the hospitals for
vaccination and advice on their health. Pesaressi et al. (2014) claim that another factor
contributing to poor dental hygiene practices among the aboriginal children is lack of
training for the nurses on children oral health care. If they are trained, they would in turn
train parents and caregivers on oral health behaviours, their importance and also how to
detect oral infections among the children. Nes and Reis (2018) argue that poor oral health
among aboriginal children is as a result of frequent consumption of sugar, poor oral
hygiene and failure to use fluoride. They link these to economic, social and environmental
factors.
Page 3 of 7 Assignment Number Date of submission

ORAL HEALTH 4
3. Resources (~270 words)
Briefly discuss the resources needed to improve dental/oral health for your chosen population
group. Please do not remove these instructions. These instructions are not included in the
assessment word count.
Improving the aboriginals children oral health calls for a whole system approach with
actions from all stakeholders, including the government (both national and local), health
care facilities, families and drink and food processing industry. According to Duijster, de
Jong-Lenters and van Loveren (2015) tooth decay is among the most common oral defects
in aboriginal children. To prevent these oral defects they recommend that parents and
caregivers ensure that children adhere to the behavioural messages on children oral health.
These include brushing their teeth before bed and at least once during the day, reducing
consumption of sugary foods and drinks and regularly visiting the dentist for checkups.
Health care professionals claim that educational resources could help prevent poor oral
health among aboriginal children. This would involve incorporating oral education in the
children’s syllabus. This would equip the children with right knowledge and skills for
better oral health. A dental buddy is a link between the school and local health care
professionals and creates a bond between the teachers and nurses thus increasing the time
spend to teach the children on dental health. The government coming up with initiatives to
start dental home for these children would be of much benefit especially for aboriginal
families with low income. At home, parents should find better and healthy recipes for their
children. A single soft drink could take a child beyond the daily recommended sugar
intake. Researcher and health care professionals therefore call for soft drinks industry levy.
This levy would encourage the industries reduce the level of sugar in their products and
find a better healthier alternative.
Page 4 of 7 Assignment Number Date of submission

ORAL HEALTH 5
4. Policy (~270 words)
Critically examine Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives: Australia’s National Oral Health Plan 2015
- 2024 (see Resources page for link) for the inclusion of your chosen population group and
based on your suggestions (in Q2 and Q3) identify any gaps that exist in the
recommendations. Please do not remove these instructions. These instructions are not
included in the assessment word count.
The National Oral Health Plan is a government initiative built to address the oral health
inequalities experienced by different population groups in Australia. During the first phase
of this plan, they have recorded great success by increasing the population’s access to
fluoridated water to 82 percent from 69 percent. The plan has also raised campaigns on the
use of fluoride toothpastes and published oral health messages concerning children oral
health. They have also collaborated the oral campaign with health conditions that share
common risk factors (like Rethink sugary drink campaign). For the 2015-2024 phase, the
plan focuses on how to fight the barriers to good oral health for the children (COAG
Health Council, 2015). The plan stakeholders claim that despite considerable success in the
previous years, oral health (especially among the aboriginals) is faced by financial,
personal and organizational barriers and these would prevent most of their children from
accessing quality dental services.
The National Oral Health Plan 2015-2024 has laid down principles to guide the oral health
system and also give a national strategic direction. This plan was developed through a
collaborative consultations with all arms of the government, the oral workforce, health care
professionals and every other stakeholder. Therefore, the success of this plan requires these
sectors to work together to improve and protect the dental health of the Australians, more
so the aboriginal children (Oral Health \monitoring Council, 2016). According to this plan,
more focus has to be on the ATSI children (aged below 15 years) as they record a 50
percent more dental infections than the other population. I recommend that this plan has to
incorporate education the children, parents and carers on oral health as this gives them the
right knowledge and skills as pertains dental health.
5. Action Plan (~270 words)
Briefly outline the responsibility of the nurse/midwife in dental/oral health care and
promotion, and list and briefly discuss three other professional groups (health care
professional groups and/or non-health care professional groups) you would collaborate
with to improve the dental/oral health in your chosen population. Please do not remove
Page 5 of 7 Assignment Number Date of submission

ORAL HEALTH 6
these instructions. These instructions are not included in the assessment word count.
Nurses are an important figure in children’s dental health. They provide oral health
education, assessments, increase access to dental home for less fortunate and income
children. Bernstein et al. (2017) claim that nurses undertake oral health risk assessments,
applying fluoride vanish and also screening on children. However they think that the
nurses need to acquire more knowledge and skills in oral health assessment. Nurses give
children, parents and carers advice and the right support so as to make the right choices
pertaining the children’s oral health. Bennett (2015) thinks that school nurses are important
are important in children oral health as they interact with the children on daily basis at
school. These nurses have an obligation to come up with oral health improvement
strategies for these children at school.
Attaining maximum success in children oral health needs interdisciplinary and
interprofessional collaboration (Bernstein et al. 2017). Pediatricians, pediatric nurse
practitioners, family physicians, parents and teachers can form a good workforce in child
oral health. Parents and carers play an important role in the child’s life. The family is an
important environment to shape the child’s attitude, habits and knowledge on their oral
health. Bozorgmehr, Hajizamani and Mohammadi (2013) claim that the parents are the
main caregivers during the child’s early stages. Therefore their occupation, age, education,
attitude, behaviour and knowledge gives an insight in improving the child’s health habits.
Different governments have begun family physician oral health training programs as this
would increase to health care and reduce dental diseases among children. They have also
encouraged a collaboration between the physicians and dentists. This helps break down the
separation between medicine and dentistry.
References
Bozorgmehr, E., Hajizamani, A., & Malek Mohammadi, T. (2013). Oral health behavior of
parents as a predictor of oral health status of their children. ISRN dentistry, 2013,
741783. doi:10.1155/2013/741783
Bennett, V. (2015). Oral health and role of school nurses. Retrieved from:
https://vivbennett.blog.gov.uk/2015/09/29/oral-health-jane-levers/
Page 6 of 7 Assignment Number Date of submission

ORAL HEALTH 7
Bernstein, J., Gebel, C., Vargas, C., Geltman, P., Walter, A., Garcia, R. and Tinanoff, N.
(2016). Listening to paediatric primary care nurses: a qualitative study of the potential
for interprofessional oral health practice in six federally qualified health centres in
Massachusetts and Maryland. BMJ;7:e014124. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-014124
COAG Health Council. (2015). Australia’s National Oral Health Plan 2015-2024. Adelaide:
SA Dental Services.
Epstein, V. (2018). How should kids brush their teeth? Retrieved from:
https://www.kars4kids.org/blog/health-safety/how-should-kids-brush-their-teeth/
Damle S. G. (2018). Health Consequences of Poor Oral Health?. Contemporary clinical
dentistry, 9(1), 1. doi:10.4103/ccd.ccd_106_18
Pesaressi, E., Villena, R. S., van der Sanden, W. J., Mulder, J., & Frencken, J. E. (2014).
Barriers to adopting and implementing an oral health programme for managing early
childhood caries through primary health care providers in Lima, Peru. BMC oral
health, 14, 17. doi:10.1186/1472-6831-14-17
Pesaressi, E., Villena, R. S., van der Sanden, W. J., Mulder, J., & Frencken, J. E. (2014).
Barriers to adopting and implementing an oral health programme for managing early
childhood caries through primary health care providers in Lima, Peru. BMC oral
health, 14, 17. doi:10.1186/1472-6831-14-17
Oral Health Monitoring Group. (2016). Healthy mouths, healthy lives: Australia’s National
Oral Health Plan 2015 - 2024. Canberra: COAG Health Council.
van Nes, K.A., Veerkamp, J.S.J. & Reis, R. (2018). Barriers and opportunities to oral health
in Dutch-Moroccan children in the Netherlands: a native report. Eur Arch Paediatr
Dent, 19: 353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40368-018-0367-3
WHO. (2018). Oral health. Retrieved from:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/oral-health
Page 7 of 7 Assignment Number Date of submission