ADHA Access February 2012 : Page 8

 National Museum of Dentistry Launches New Oral Health Guide for Parents of Children with Autism The National Museum of Dentistry has created a new resource to help parents of children with autism spectrum dis-order succeed in teaching good oral hygiene. Healthy Smiles for Autism was created to empower parents of children with autism spectrum disorder with usable tools to help effectively teach their children an oral health routine. The guide shows parents how to teach children with autism spectrum disorder how to brush and À oss with the help of step-by-step instruc-tion, social stories and visual sequencing cards that can be used wherever brushing happens. The Healthy Smiles for Au-tism guide also provides information to help parents prepare their children for a ¿ rst dental visit. “We want to be able to give parents readily usable tools to help their children to develop a good oral hygiene regimen,” said Jonathan Landers, National Museum of Dentistry execu-tive director. “We’ve combined best practices for autism edu-cation, such as visual sequencing cards and rewards systems, with proven personal oral hygiene techniques to help make the process a little bit easier.” Metcalf added that nearly half of respondents who had had a cosmetic procedure had been prompted to do so by their dentist. Some examples of treatments that might not be necessary include teeth whitening, amalgam ¿ lling replace-ment, unnecessary restorations, precautionary removal of wisdom teeth, X-rays and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) surgery. The report notes that 17 percent of survey respondents who had a dental procedure for health reasons had delayed it. Even those with insurance put off a treatment they needed; 23 percent did so because insurance wouldn’t cover the pro-cedure, and 24 percent because they had already used up the maximum that their insurance plan would cover for the year. According to Metcalf, there are several ways consumers can keep costs down or get by without insurance: Shop around and bargain. Look up typical insurance paid rates in your area at FairHealthConsumer.org and HealthCareBlueBook.com, then ask providers to accept that amount, or less, as a cash payment. Consider free and low-cost clinics and health centers. Some community health centers offer dental care with fees based on the ability to pay. Consumers should call their local health department to ¿ nd one nearby. But they should expect to encounter waiting lists in some locations. Look into dental and dental hygiene schools. Con-sumers who are willing to be treated by supervised students can avail themselves of schools that offer free or discounted care to the public. A list of schools is available at www.ada.org/267.aspx. Investigate dental discount plans. For an annual membership fee of around $50 to $100, one can get access to a network of dentists who have agreed to discounted rates. But Consumer Reports recommends that consumers watch out for pricey add-ons and extra procedures they don’t need. Dental care is the leading unmet health care need among children with special needs. According to the release, autism is a complex develop-mental disability that typically appears during the ¿ rst three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others—including the dentist. According to the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center, den-tal care is the leading unmet health care need among children with special needs, and across all income levels, children with special needs are almost twice as likely to have an unmet oral heath care need as their peers without special needs. The National Museum of Dentistry partnered with Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders and University of Maryland Dental School to develop these best practices to oral health care for children with autism spectrum disorder. The Healthy Smiles for Autism guide is free and download-able at www.healthysmilesforautism.org. Survey Says: Consumers Delaying Dental Care Due to Cost A new Consumer Reports survey revealed that 43 percent of its readers cited cost as a reason to delay dental treatment. According to the release, readers of the publication tend to have better insurance coverage than Americans on average. The survey asked subscribers to describe the dental health and cosmetic treatments they received in the last ¿ ve years. The survey also revealed that only a third of readers are brushing and À ossing as recommended, and some patients may be paying for unnecessary cosmetic treatments. “Consumers worry about pain when it comes to the den-tist, but the ¿ nancial burden of yet another medical expense is the greatest concern of all. It’s worrisome that so many people are putting off dental care due to cost constraints,” said Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor, Consumer Reports . “Because cost is an issue, consumers need to be clear about the line between dental care that is necessary and the proce-dures they can live without. Many dentists are trained to push for procedures, both cosmetic and non cosmetic, that will boost their bottom line.” The report adds that it is better to have dental insurance than not have it, especially if it’s job-based, but consumers should not expect free or nearly-free care. The survey found that of the 71 percent of respondents who had dental insur-ance, 90 percent received some sort of coverage, but only 46 percent said it covered more than half of the cost. The table below shows what subscribers with and without insurance paid for some common dental procedures. The costs are based on average out-of-pocket payments. The report is available in the February issue of Consumer Reports and online (full access to subscribers only) at www. ConsumerReports.org. Procedure Filling Filling repair Extraction Crown Root canal Periodontal treatment Bridge Implant Insured average cost $141 $149 $317 $563 $593 $598 $1,479 $2,825 Uninsured average cost $288 $265 $501 $1,018 $1,201 $972 $2,698 $3,938 Source: Consumer Reports National Research Center This edition of Health was prepared by Mariam Pera. ■ 8 FEB 2012 access

Health

National Museum of Dentistry Launches New Oral Health Guide for Parents of Children with Autism The National Museum of Dentistry has created a new resource to help parents of children with autism spectrum disorder succeed in teaching good oral hygiene. Healthy Smiles for Autism was created to empower parents of children with autism spectrum disorder with usable tools to help effectively teach their children an oral health routine. The guide shows parents how to teach children with autism spectrum disorder how to brush and ..oss with the help of step-by-step instruction, social stories and visual sequencing cards that can be used wherever brushing happens. The Healthy Smiles for Autism guide also provides information to help parents prepare their children for a ..rst dental visit. “We want to be able to give parents readily usable tools to help their children to develop a good oral hygiene regimen,” said Jonathan Landers, National Museum of Dentistry executive director. “We’ve combined best practices for autism education, such as visual sequencing cards and rewards systems, with proven personal oral hygiene techniques to help make the process a little bit easier.” According to the release, autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the ..rst three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others—including the dentist. According to the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center, dental care is the leading unmet health care need among children with special needs, and across all income levels, children with special needs are almost twice as likely to have an unmet oral heath care need as their peers without special needs. The National Museum of Dentistry partnered with Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders and University of Maryland Dental School to develop these best practices to oral health care for children with autism spectrum disorder. The Healthy Smiles for Autism guide is free and downloadable at www.healthysmilesforautism.org. Survey Says: Consumers Delaying Dental Care Due to Cost A new Consumer Reports survey revealed that 43 percent of its readers cited cost as a reason to delay dental treatment. According to the release, readers of the publication tend to have better insurance coverage than Americans on average. The survey asked subscribers to describe the dental health and cosmetic treatments they received in the last ..ve years. The survey also revealed that only a third of readers are brushing and ..ossing as recommended, and some patients may be paying for unnecessary cosmetic treatments. “Consumers worry about pain when it comes to the dentist, but the ..nancial burden of yet another medical expense is the greatest concern of all. It’s worrisome that so many people are putting off dental care due to cost constraints,” said Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor, Consumer Reports. “Because cost is an issue, consumers need to be clear about the line between dental care that is necessary and the procedures they can live without. Many dentists are trained to push for procedures, both cosmetic and non cosmetic, that will boost their bottom line.” Metcalf added that nearly half of respondents who had had a cosmetic procedure had been prompted to do so by their dentist. Some examples of treatments that might not be necessary include teeth whitening, amalgam ..lling replacement, unnecessary restorations, precautionary removal of wisdom teeth, X-rays and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) surgery. The report notes that 17 percent of survey respondents who had a dental procedure for health reasons had delayed it. Even those with insurance put off a treatment they needed; 23 percent did so because insurance wouldn’t cover the procedure, and 24 percent because they had already used up the maximum that their insurance plan would cover for the year. According to Metcalf, there are several ways consumers can keep costs down or get by without insurance: . Shop around and bargain. Look up typical insurance paid rates in your area at FairHealthConsumer.org and HealthCareBlueBook.com, then ask providers to accept that amount, or less, as a cash payment. . Consider free and low-cost clinics and health centers. Some community health centers offer dental care with fees based on the ability to pay. . Consumers should call their local health department to ..nd one nearby. But they should expect to encounter waiting lists in some locations. . Look into dental and dental hygiene schools. Consumers who are willing to be treated by supervised students can avail themselves of schools that offer free or discounted care to the public. A list of schools is available at www.ada.org/267.aspx. . Investigate dental discount plans. For an annual membership fee of around $50 to $100, one can get access to a network of dentists who have agreed to discounted rates. But Consumer Reports recommends that consumers watch out for pricey add-ons and extra procedures they don’t need. The report adds that it is better to have dental insurance than not have it, especially if it’s job-based, but consumers should not expect free or nearly-free care. The survey found that of the 71 percent of respondents who had dental insurance, 90 percent received some sort of coverage, but only 46 percent said it covered more than half of the cost. The table below shows what subscribers with and without insurance paid for some common dental procedures. The costs are based on average out-of-pocket payments. The report is available in the February issue of Consumer Reports and online (full access to subscribers only) at www.ConsumerReports.org.

Previous Page Next Page

Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here