Monday, March 25, 2013

Alexander Lew - Community Trends Assignment


Alexander Lew
March 25, 2013

For my community health trends assignment, I spoke to Dr. May Tang, a dentist I shadowed last summer in my home town of Hong Kong.  Dr. Tang is a general dentist with an office in the middle of the city, and has patients from a wide spectrum of ethnic and economic backgrounds. 
1)      The first trend that I discussed with Dr. Tang was that very few of her patients regularly flossed.  In fact, she said that typically the only patients that flossed daily were individuals who had previously undergone extensive dental work due to lack of flossing.  When inquiring as to why her patients didn’t floss, Dr. Tang said that most people claimed that it was too much of an inconvenience and hassle or that they forget.  Dr. Tang stressed the importance of flossing, and how it helps remove plaque from underneath and between teeth.  Individuals who neglect to floss often develop dental on the lateral sides of their teeth.
2)      Another trend that Dr. Tang mentioned was the relationship between her patients that smoked, and rates of tooth loss.  She explained that of her patients that were heavy smokers had noticeably higher rates of tooth loss compared to non smokers. The tooth loss attributed to smoking was due to the patient’s development of periodontal disease.  Dr. Tang hypothesized that it was the nicotine in cigarettes that causes the development of periodontal disease. She did say that smoking did not have a noticeable effect on tooth loss due to caries, but exclusively periodontal disease.
3)      The next trend I discussed with Dr. Tang was concerning the oral health of heavy drinkers and drug abusers.  Dr. Tang observed that her patients who drink heavily and take drugs typically have more missing teeth, and more fillings. These patients had higher than average rates of oral disease as well.  Dr. Tang claimed that there was not a noticeable difference in oral health between individuals who just consumed alcoholic beverages with those that took drugs in addition to alcohol consumption. She also noted that her older patients had more severe problems due to more years of poor oral health.
4)      A fourth trend I discussed with Dr. Tang was the relationship between soda consumption and dental erosion.  Dr. Tang noticed that her patients that drank a lot of soda often had some degree of dental erosion. Most of her patients that admitted to drinking a lot of soda were young children and teenagers.  Dr. Tang said that dental erosion can be sometimes easily mistaken for dental caries. She explained that the consequences of misdiagnosis could be harmful because it misdirects the planning of treatment.
5)      The last trend I discussed with Dr. Tang was concerning the oral health of her more affluent patients.  She observed that her patients of higher socio-economic status typically took better care of their teeth and had better oral health.  She noted that these patients also had more cosmetic dental work done.  She also found that her patients that were willing to pay for more expensive procedures were more likely to retain good oral health.  Conversely, patients that routinely went with the cheapest options often had continual oral health issues.

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