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Oral Health

OVERVIEW

Heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis are only some of the chronic conditions that have been linked to oral health. We encourage all PAs to incorporate oral health screenings and preventive oral healthcare into routine medical care. As patients are generally more likely to visit a medical provider than a dentist, PAs can be critical in making early oral diagnoses that can have more serious implications if not promptly addressed and connecting patients to dentists. By integrating oral health into PA practice, PAs can positively impact America’s oral health crisis by increasing access to care, minimizing the burden of oral disease, and reducing associated disparities.

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Promoting PA Efforts

 

Are you a patient?

 

Your oral health deserves a comPAssionate provider, so ask your certified PA about your oral health and how it affects your overall health. Plus, find patient-focused handouts, videos, and multimedia materials to learn more about caring for your oral health.

We advocate putting the mouth back in the body.

In 2000, the US Surgeon General called oral disease the “silent epidemic” in America and noted the “mouth is a mirror for the body,” but significant work remains to foster an engaged and equipped workforce to meet these needs.

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Americans spent more than $124 billion on dental services in 2016.

 
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Approximately 68% of people aged 2 years and older had a dental visit in the past 12 months.

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59% of adolescents have had tooth decay.

Know the Facts

  • Dental caries is the most common chronic disease of childhood.
  • Nearly 19% of adults age 65 and over have complete tooth loss.
  • Oral cancer kills approximately 1 person every hour.
  • Oral and pharyngeal cancers are often diagnosed too late; only about half of patients diagnosed with oral cancer will be alive in five years.
  • Healthy People 2020 identifies that it's leading health indicator related to oral health is "getting worse" since measurement began in 2007.
  • Employed adults lose 164 million hours of work each year due to their own oral health problems or dental visits–twice the amount of time required to assemble the three million new cars produced by the U.S. each year.
  • Only half of employers offering medical benefits provide or contribute to a dental insurance benefit. This coverage gap leaves approximately 108 million people in the U.S. (nearly 40% of the population) without dental insurance—more than two-and-a-half times the number of Americans who lack medical insurance.
  • Nearly 63 million Americans live in dental health profession shortage areas.
  • PAs provide care at both the front-end and back-end of the disease process for all ages, genders, and diseases.
  • PAs work as part of the interprofessional team in collaboration with physicians and other providers.
  • PA practice is often focused on prevention. Oral health is the “low hanging fruit” of prevention. Causes are known and interventions work.
  • Oral health fits within the scope of PA practice, which can include:
    • Screening for oral health
    • Conducting risk assessments
    • Applying fluoride varnish
    • Providing anticipatory guidance and behavior change counseling
    • Educating patients to promote patient activation and self-advocacy

Our work is part of the PA Leadership Initiative in Oral Health, a profession-wide movement striving to integrate oral health into PA education and practice. This work has been supported by the National Interprofessional Initiative in Oral Health (NIIOH) and its funders the DentaQuest Foundation and Arcora Foundation.

The nccPA Health Foundation is committed to promoting the role of PAs as oral health champions.

 

 


  • Poster: PA Educators – Leaders in Oral Health Integration: A Comparative Study of 14 Health Professions. June 2020. American Academy of PAs Annual Conference ePoster.

  • Presentation: Equipping Students to Care for Smiles
    of All Ages.     October 2019. PAEA Education Forum. Washington, DC.

  • Presentation: Oral Health: Certified PAs Caring for
    Smiles for Life.     August 2019. Florida Academy of Physician Assistants Summer CME Symposium. Marco Island, Florida.

  • Article: Integrating Oral Health: Physician Assistant Education in 2017. June 2019. Journal of PA Education. 

  • Article: Certified PAs: Caring for Smiles.  Reflections from Professionals on World Oral Health Day. May-June 2019. Future of Personal Health.com. 

  • Poster: Aligning Physician Assistant (PA) Education for Interprofessional Oral Health Practice. August 2019. Nexus Summit. Minneapolis, Minnesota.

  • Roundtable Leader: nccPA Health Foundation: A Partner in Building Physician Assistant Oral Health Workforce Capacity. April 2019. National Oral Health Conference. Memphis, Tennessee.

  • Poster: Building Physician Assistant Oral Health Workforce Capacity to Improve Health. March 2019. American Dental Education Association Conference. Chicago, Illinois.

  • Poster: Physician Assistant Education Program Curriculum: Oral Health Integration in 2017. March 2019. American Dental Education Association Conference. Chicago, Illinois.

  • Presentation: Changing the Systems that Influence Oral Health. August 2018. Ohio Rural Health Conference and Flex Annual Meeting. Mt. Sterling, Ohio.

  • Presentation: Did You Miss It? Oral Health as a Factor in Health & Disease. June 2018. International Association of Medical Science Educators Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada.

  • Presentation & Poster: Building Physician Assistant Oral Health Workforce Capacity: A Six-Year Retrospective. May 2018. American Academy of PAs Annual Conference. New Orleans, Louisiana.

  • Roundtable Leader: nccPA Health Foundation: A Partner in Building Physician Assistant Oral Health Workforce Capacity. April 2018. National Oral Health Conference. Louisville, Kentucky.
     
  • Article: Integrating Physician Assistants into the Oral Health Workforce Supports the Opportunity for Health. Reflections from Professionals on World Oral Health Day. March 20, 2018. Public Health Newswire. 

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To view additional Foundation efforts to promote the PA profession and integration of oral health, click here.