IFDH eNews: April 2023
Member News
Belgium
Oral Health Care Project for Vulnerable
The Belgian Government released 1 million euros for an Oral Health Care Project by Dental Hygienists among vulnerable target groups. The current initiative runs through pilot projects with Dental Hygienists in community health centers, among others. “This way we are evolving more and more to group practices where, for example, the general practitioner, primary care physician and Dental Hygienist work together and can refer people. That’s the way to make sure everyone enjoys our care and reduce the health gap” says the current Minister of Health. The Belgian Association for Dental Hygienists (BBM) remains in constructive discussions with the government about a much-needed expansion of the current reimbursement for care provided by dental hygienists. This will be a long-term project that will require a cost analysis and reorganization of the current budget within dental and oral care.
Canada
New Canadian Standards Released for Long-Term Care Homes
The Health Standards Organization (HSO) recently released its new national Long-Term Care (LTC) Services standard. It focuses on promoting good governance, upholding high-quality, safe, resident-centered care and enabling a meaningful quality of life for LTC residents, fostering a healthy and competent workforce, and promoting a culture of quality improvement and learning. Most importantly, this standard acknowledges the importance of Oral Health for LTC residents. Many Canadian dental hygienists contributed their expertise to the development of the standard. CDHA’s advocacy in support of the oral health needs of LTC residents now involves promoting the implementation of these standards across the LTC sector in Canada. Read CDHA’s latest statement and discussion paper for more information.
A Healthy Smile Is Good for Your Heart
In honor of February’s Heart Month, CDHA released a new resource that explains how oral health affects heart health, who is at risk, and much more.
Denmark
Support for Members Participating in IFDH International Symposium
For years, the Danish Dental Hygienists has supported members who want to participate in the ISDH. Last time we met in Dublin, seventeen Dental Hygienists from Denmark participated with a supporting grant from the Danish Dental Hygienists. Next time we meet will be no exception. The ISDH in Seoul in 2024 will also be with participants from Denmark and as the Dental Hygienists organization we will do what we can to support participants with grants, so we get as many participants in Seoul as possible. We are looking forward to seeing all colleagues again in 2024.
Meeting the WHO
In November 2022, the WHO launched an online presentation of the Global Oral Health Status Report. This presentation led to the Danish Dental Hygienists requesting a meeting with the WHO. The reason for our request was initially the lack of presence of and focus on Dental Hygienists in the WHO presentation and the report. Reading through the report, there is no doubt that there is a huge and increasing demand for Dental Hygienists and the health work we perform to prevent caries and periodontitis in spreading throughout the world’s population. We succeeded in getting a meeting in December 2022, where the Danish Dental Hygienists asked the WHO to encourage members states to increase the usage of Dental Hygienist and create the profession, if members states do not already have Dental Hygienists. The WHO asked the Danish Dental Hygienists to forward documentation on education, health improvements linked to Dental Hygienists work, cases and much more. This was sent In January 2023 and we hope, that the WHO will use our input to help member states to focus on Dental Hygiene and Dental Hygienists.
Israel
The Israeli Dental Hygiene Association (IDHA) promote our profession on several levels:
Social Media: We continue to publish posts, information and ideas promoting oral health for the general public.
Journal: Our Dental Hygiene scientific journal published this month (March) contains important scientific articles, information and a summary of the association’s activities and other news from the dental world.
Women’s Conference: On March 10 we held our annual “Women’s Day” conference, the emphasis being female empowerment. This event included scientific lectures delivered by female professionals, as well as a social event encouraging networking, exchange of information, experiences and ideas among the participants on a variety of topics.
Social Responsibility: In December, a training course for Dental Hygienists working with the special needs’ population took place in Jerusalem. This program was very successful and will contribute a great deal to the dental care and oral health of a population with special needs.
IDHA continues to initiate activities promoting sustainability in oral health programs. Our project for the coming year is oral health education is for the mentally challenged and the staff working with them.
Slovak Republic
The Executive Committee of the Association of Dental Hygienists in the Slovak Republic (ADHS) has once again approached the health insurance companies for cooperation negotiating the best possible conditions for the payment of dental benefits for the insured patients who undergo a Dental Hygiene treatment.
At the same time, the presidium of the ADHS initiated a meeting of representatives of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic and the Slovak Chamber of Dentists on the issue of the growing number of preventionist courses who are unqualified to practice Dental Hygiene.
This year, ADHS, within the national preventive project “Generation Without Decay“, extended the possibility of active participation in the project to students of Dental Hygiene.
United Kingdom
The British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy (BSDHT) held its 2022 Oral Health Conference in November in Manchester, England. The theme was ‘It’s the business’ and offered a varied program with a mix of lectures and hands on sessions. It was well attended, and the trade hall was well supported.
