Oral Health Literacy Meaning

Participants with higher oral health literacy also had fewer decayed teeth.

Oral health literacy meaning. Oral health literacy is a relatively new but critical concept in our efforts to decrease disparities and increase oral health for all marylanders. Lower literacy has been linked to problems with the use of preventive services delayed diagnoses of medical conditions poor adherence to medical instructions poor self management skills increased mortality risks poor health outcomes and higher health care costs. The definition of oral health literacy adopted as ada policy in 2006 is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate oral health decisions.

These individuals include the poor those with low levels of education minorities and the elderly. It also recognizes that by improving health literacy patients are better stewards of their own health. This study included only african american or caucasian patients as they constitute a majority approx 90 95 of the patient population seen at the.

4 most of the patients acquire information from various sources but the information provided to them by their dentist and dental team members serve to guide and inform their ability for optimum oral health self care and decision making related to health overall. Ada policy defines oral health literacy as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate oral health decisions. Furthermore individuals with higher oral health literacy had higher mean numbers of natural teeth n ftus and nif ftus.

By one estimate limited health literacy costs up to more than 200 billion annually associated with inadequate personal preventive care and greater use of emergency care. Oral health literacy is important because low health literacy contributes to disease which results in increased costs for all of us. However the paucity of information on oral health literacy makes urgent the need for more research on this important topic.

Those with low health literacy are usually at highest risk for oral diseases and problems. The encounter with a dentist. Oral health literacy has been defined by the united states national institute of dental and craniofacial research as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain process and.

Health literacy is recognized as an important determinant of health as well as a causal factor in health disparities among different population groups. Health literacy is a known mediator between socio economic factors health behavior and oral health outcomes in various populations explaining gradients in oral health status and outcomes. Health literacy has been found to be a strong predictor of an individuals health health behavior and health outcomes.