Like all good dental practices, we encourage our patients to begin bringing their children in as soon as they have their first tooth, and to make sure the whole family has a cleaning and check-up every six months.  Often, we think about this in terms of preventing dental pain and preserving healthy tooth function.  But it’s important to remember that dental hygiene is about much more than appearance or even the ability to chew comfortably. Good hygiene, including brushing, flossing, and regular cleaning, keeps teeth and gums healthy.  A healthy mouth is essential to your overall health.  Infections in the mouth can travel through the bloodstream and cause illness elsewhere.  They make it more difficult to keep diabetes under control.  Poor dental health increass the risk for poor birth outcomes. Sealants for children provide additional protection by preventing cavities.

As a community health center, ChesPenn’s focus is always on prevention wherever possible.  Our Public Health Dental Hygienists are avid educators.  They work with medical staff to ensure children have their first visit as soon as their teeth come in.  They go out into the community to teach and screen for dental disease.

Dental Hygiene Fun Facts:

Fact #1: Fones School of Dental Hygiene opened in 1913 as the first dental hygiene school in the country.

Fact #2: The first bristle toothbrush was introduced in 1948; before that, animal hair was widely used.

Fact #3: Tooth enamel is the hardest thing in the human body.

Fact #4: Tooth decay is the second most common disease in the United States.

Fact #5: Regular dental cleanings can prevent heart attacks.

Six Steps for Proper Brushing and Flossing:

1. Get the right angle – ensure you tilt the brush at a 45-degree angle
2. Gently move your toothbrush back and forth but be sure you are not too rough.
3. Cover all surfaces of your mouth including inside, outside, top, and bottom.
4. Spend about 30 seconds on each quadrant of your mouth.  Many electric toothbrushes will time this for you.
5. Don’t forget to brush your tongue as well. A lot of bacteria lives on your tongue, so brushing that away will not only help get rid of the bacteria, but also give you fresher breath.  If that’s uncomfortable, you can try a tongue scraper.  They are less likely to trigger gag reflexes.
6. Don’t forget to floss!

October is National Dental Hygiene month.  If you haven’t seen your hygienist, make an appointment.  And thank your hygienist for protecting your whole health.

For a fun introduction to brushing for your kids, watch “Teach Me How to Brushy,” put out by The Oregon Dental Hygiene Association.  It’s an oldie but goodie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ugQLL65BKc

Chelsea Spiegelhalder’s family has deep roots in Coatesville.  Her grandmother was a nurse at Coatesville Hospital long before it became Brandywine Hospital.  Her father was a pharmacist.  All of her family members have volunteered in local organizations and in their church. Chelsea herself has served on the Board of Directors of a local nonprofit.  Many of her patients know her or her family because of their work in the community.  That relationship often makes it easier for patients to trust Chelsea’s advice about managing their health.

Chelsea’s father was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 7.  In part because of her dad’s experience, her passion is providing care to patients with diabetes.  In her view, while it is a complicated disease, the treatment does not have to be.  Communication and education are key – and the whole family has to be involved.  Managing diabetes means lifestyle changes that work best when the patient’s family adopt them together.  Because Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, runs in families, these changes can benefit everyone in the family.  Chelsea shared that the ability to provide telehealth visits that began during the pandemic has been a real asset in caring for patients with diabetes.  Especially for new patients, getting the right medication dosages can take some trial and error and a short telehealth visit to discuss blood sugar levels and make adjustments can be just as effective as visiting in person.   Patients can often fit these visits into their day, even at work, without having to travel to ChesPenn.

October 6 – 10 is National Physician Assistant Week.  It’ to s a good time to reflect on the contributions made by physician assistants (Pas) to the health of the community.  PAs provide preventive health services, diagnose illness, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and often serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider PAs are highly trained, licensed professionals who work collaboratively with a physician as part of a team approach to healthcare.  As such, they are often patients’ primary health providers, consulting with the team physician as needed in complex care cases.  This model expands our ability to provide quality care while managing healthcare costs.

Since she joined ChesPenn in 2009, Chelsea’s family has grown.  She has three children under 6 and has adjusted her schedule to ensure a healthy work-life balance.  But her passion for community health is undiminished.  She shares her pride in her work with her children, instilling her love of community service in them even at their young ages.  Chelsea’s dedication to caring for others embodies ChesPenn’s spirit.

We don’t like to talk about it.  And that’s the problem.  Conversations about mental health are uncomfortable and we can always find a reason to wait, or tell ourselves that we are ok, or that our loved one is ok.  But what if they are not?  What if we are not?  What if this is our one opportunity to prevent a tragedy?  A few moments of discomfort are trivial compared to a lifetime of grief for those left behind.  National Suicide Prevention Month is the perfect time to learn how to respond to a mental health crisis.

We are living through a time of extraordinary stress.  The pandemic and the economic and social upheaval that have occurred in its wake have taken a toll on our collective mental health.  According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, there were 1.2 million suicide attempts in 2020 in the U.S.  Mental health professionals report disturbing spikes in patient reports of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.  At the same time, we face a shortage of behavioral health resources.  The closure of Brandywine Hospital and cutbacks at Crozer Health have made locating mental health services more difficult than ever for people living in the communities we serve.

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To learn more, or locate training resources check out these sites:

https://www.chesco.org/4191/TrainingsWorkshops

https://www.preventsuicidepa.org/task-force-county-init/delaware/