Providing Information and Support to Patients on Oral Health: Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of providing patients with essential oral health information, emphasizing the significance of patient education in promoting dental hygiene. It explores the reasons behind the necessity of informing patients about oral health, irrespective of their socioeconomic backgrounds, and highlights the substantial financial investment the NHS makes in this area. The report analyzes the need to evaluate current promotional campaigns to enhance health and oral care, addressing gaps in patient knowledge and access to services. It further details the effective implementation of national campaigns within dental settings, illustrating how initiatives like 'National Smile Month' can educate patients and spread awareness. The report also examines the challenges of oral health inequalities, advocating for measures like fluoridation and integrated healthcare systems to ensure equitable access to dental treatments and preventive care. Ultimately, the report underscores the importance of proactive information dissemination and strategic campaign implementation in improving overall oral health outcomes, supported by references to public health resources and guidelines.

PROVIDE INFORMATION AND
SUPPORT TO PATIENTS ON
PROTECTION OF THEIR ORAL
HEALTH
TASK 1

TABLE OF CONTENT
■ 1.1 Explain the reasons for providing the patients with oral health information
■ 1.2 Why do we need to analyse current promotional campaigns to improve health
and Oral care.
■ 1.3 Explain how national campaigns can be implemented within dental settings.
■ REFERENCES

1.1 Explain the reasons for providing the patients
with oral health information
■ Many a times, although patients are more aware of nutritional information about food
and all the other details pertaining to diseases, they lack in the knowledge about Oral
health.
■ The reason behind this is that dental hygiene, or oral health usually does not take
precedence when it comes to awareness regarding our body.
■ Hence, it is essential to provide Oral health information to all patients, irrespective of
their socioeconomic backgrounds.

CONTI……
■ The NHS spends nearly 3.5 billion euros in the Oral health of the patients around the
United Kingdom.
■ It is, however, essential for the patients, for whom the procedures are aimed at, to reach
out to the various hospitals and clinics where the treatment is provided.
■ Unless a person approaches the health center or understands the necessary steps to
maintain dental hygiene, it becomes extremely difficult for the NHS to provide
sufficient treatments to them.
■ This awareness towards oral health can only happen, only when they know all
information regarding the necessity of maintaining Oral health.

CONTI……
■ Every year, over thousands of young and old suffer from various dental problems such
as carries, gum infection, and so on.
■ Children figure out in large numbers with high levels of dental problems.
■ The main reason behind this is that their parents themselves do not hold too much
importance towards Oral hygiene, and simply ignore the problems, thinking that such
dental problems are inevitable.

CONTI……
■ Hence, the need for passing on sufficient information, both to the young and the old, is
crucial at this stage, for the health policies to pay off, and show some remarkable
results.
■ It is the case of catching them young, with children.
■ School can play a vital part in spreading Oral health information through various
seminars and meetings.
■ The importance of ‘Prevention is better than cure’ needs to be taught at a young age to
avoid dental issues later on.

CONTI……
■ The family, at the same time, need to be educated on the impacts of eating sugar or any
such food which can cause harmful effects on Oral Health.
■ All this can only be possible, if sufficient information is provided, and thus, ‘the
patients or the would-be-patients’ need to be informed at an early stage about the
essentials of Oral health and hygiene.

CONTI……
■ Various causes of Oral health inequalities:
■ There are various technological advances in both dental and health practices. The
experts, however, are facing a whole lot of challenges, both in the UK and
internationally, regarding who or where the treatments can be diverted.
■ The challenges faced by the NHS and other international agencies around the world
include:
■ How to recognize sectors/areas which lag behind in receiving Oral health from the
experts

CONTI……
■ How or why the inequalities exist – is it because of their social background, and the way
they follow the dental hygiene?
■ Ways to identify rectifying measures to bridge this gap in oral health and act towards
implementing it.
■ Modifying health policies set by the NHS to ensure inequalities and other
socioeconomic concerns do not affect the treatments and preventive measures that are
implemented by the National Health services.

CONTI……
■ These inequalities should be overcome for the system to become effective. Theways
suggested by experts to deal with any such inequality in dental treatments across the
socioeconomic classes or patients from all parts of the country include:
■ Mandatory application of fluoride in toothpastes and water
■ Provision of dental varnishes by Oral health practitioners (a change of regulation in the
process)
■ Bridging the gap between the NHS and other healthcare systems for better
implementation of Oral health processes
■ Bringing everyone under the NHS umbrella, including the children, for effective
treatment processes.

1.2 Why do we need to analyse current promotional
campaigns to improve health and Oral care.
■ As per the current analysis, there is a vast gap between the promotional campaigns run
for Oral health and the actual treatment received by those in need.
■ Although the NHS has put across several processes in place, such as universal
fluoridation of water, setting up clinics and hospitals in areas where Oral health needs
special attention, and Pre-natal Oral health programs, there still seems to be a bridge or
inequality in receiving Oral health care, hugely due to socioeconomic reasons.
■ This distance between the care that is available, and the ‘actual care’ that the patients
avail, needs to be bridged to ensure we have a foolproof system in place, pertaining to
dental hygiene.

CONTI……
■ The reasons such as:
■ The patient’s lack of knowledge regarding the Oral health regime
■ Availability of inexpensive dental services (a wrong perception that Dental treatments
are expensive)

CONTI……
■ No information about what is available on the NHS
■ Lack of tools to optimize and monitoring of patient’s progress in Dental health
■ Several such ineffectiveness exist in the present system, wherein not all are included or
come into the NHS umbrella, and thereby, are not in monitoring system. This
unavailability of information to everyone, or communication gap needs to be addressed
effectively, to improve dental and Oral care in the UK.

1.3 Explain how national campaigns can be
implemented within dental settings.
■ Oral health comes very much under the integrated health care services that the NHS has
at present, and the campaigns that they have planned for the future.
■ There are several other national agencies and programs, too, such as the Department of
health campaign, which has been working relentlessly to provide Oral health care to all.

CONTI……
■ Many such campaigns, such as ‘National Smile month’, ‘Mouth cancer Action month’
and so on, are aimed at ‘Dental health’ in view.
■ Hence, since National campaigns are run to bring in each and every patient towards
thinking and acting for their Oral hygiene, several such smaller initiative scan help pave
the way for a better dental health among the patients in the UK.

CONTI……
■ When such national campaigns are conducted, with a particular motto, the focus is
mainly on the ‘theme’ or the ‘subject’ on which the initiative is run.
■ Take the ‘National Smile month, for instance.
■ Here, the Oral health foundation aims at providing good Oral health and hygiene for
every one.

CONTI……
■ Since this is a ‘National Campaign’, particularly concentrating on the ‘Dental settings’,
it goes a long way in educating the patients and people from all socioeconomic
scenarios.
■ Also, such campaigns can act as a way to spreading essential information and
knowledge about Dental hygiene, that otherwise, might not be known to several in the
lower income group or among the younger and school going children.

REFERENCES
■ Public Health England. 2014. Local authorities improving oral health: commissioning
better oral health for children and young people [pdf]. Available at
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/321503/
CBOHMaindocumentJUNE2014.pdf [Accessed 10 February 2017].
■ NHS UK. 2016. Consent to treatment. Available at
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/consent-to-treatment/pages/introduction.aspx [Accessed
10 February 2017].
■ General Dental Council. Principles of dental team working [pdf]. Available at
<http://www.gdcuk.org/dentalprofessionals/standards/documents/principlesofdentalteam
working_br0591_1.pdf> [Accessed 10 February 2017].