DrBicuspid.com Hygiene Insider: Illinois study highlights older adult oral care issue

Dear Hygiene Insider,

In this Hygiene Insider Exclusive, DrBicuspid.com talks with Sherri Lukes, RDH, about her recent study in the Journal of Dental Hygiene on the oral health of older adults in Illinois. The study and her comments bring much needed data on issues concerning a growing segment of the population.

Also in the Hygiene Community, face mask manufacturer Crosstex has responded to numerous healthcare practitioners who have asked about appropriate personal protective equipment in the wake of prominent news coverage of Ebola and enterovirus. Read more here.

In a new national survey released last week, 75% of parents reported that their kids sometimes or frequently forget to brush their teeth. To help parents better understand why ignoring dental health can have serious consequences, the Ad Council and the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives have created new public service ads for the Kids' Healthy Mouths campaign. Learn more about this campaign here.

DrBicuspid.com is pleased to announce the winners of the 2014 Dental Excellence Awards, recognizing the very best in people, products, and services that are helping to improve the dental industry. The awards were handed out at this year's ADA 2014 annual meeting in San Antonio. Read more here.

Oral health advocates are lauding California's new law expanding the Virtual Dental Home, a program that uses telehealth technology to bring dental services directly to patients in community settings, such as schools and nursing homes. Read more on this here.

A new survey by Tufts University researchers in Boston has found that adults with developmental disabilities continue to have "significant dental disease," despite a recent focus on expanding access to care for these patients.

Finally, a leading researcher on probiotics speaks with DrBicuspid.com about the impact of probiotics in the oral cavity and what dentists need to be aware of when it comes to their patients' use of probiotics. As researchers have found that certain probiotics have the ability to linger in a patient's mouth, new treatment options may arise. Read more here.