Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 5, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Primary Care and Oral Health Integration: Comparing Training Across Disciplines
Background:
Primary care (PC) training programs must incorporate oral health (OH) into their curricula to reduce health disparities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare OH education integration across multiple PC disciplines.
Methods:
In 2017, the authors surveyed deans and program directors (PDs) across 13 disciplines (2,245 PC programs) and used the Input Process Output framework to evaluate training factors across these disciplines.
Results:
Nine disciplines represented by 767 respondents were chosen for analysis (disciplines with ³40% response rate were included). Most of the physician assistant (PA) and pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) programs reported departmental support for OH and covered curriculum content topics on oral health risk assessment and evaluation. Similarly, over-half (>60%) PA and PNP PDs agreed that learners could answer OH-related questions on their board exams.
Conclusion:
Best practices learned from PNP and PA programs can be shared across disciplines to help bolster OH integration.
Related Concept Videos
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...
01:15Teeth
In the bud stage, the tooth germ (an aggregation of cells) starts to form in the developing jawbone. During the cap stage, the tooth germ differentiates into enamel organ, dental papilla, and dental sac, which will later develop into the tooth's enamel, dentin...
01:27Coronary Artery Disease V: Interprofessional Care
01:26Assessment of the Mouth
Mouth Inspection
The inspection begins with visually examining the mouth for symmetry, color, and size.
01:30Primary Healthcare Services
In 1978, international leaders convened in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, for what would be a pivotal event in global health. The Alma-Ata Declaration was the first to call...