Institute for Oral Health | Senior dental care. dentistry whitepapers, oral health care policy, geriatric dentistry

2008 Focus Group #2: Oral Health Needs for Seniors

June 26 -27, 2008 - Denver, CO

As part of ongoing collaborative research, in June 2008, Institute for Oral Health hosted the second of two focus groups related to the 2008 theme: "Oral Health in Aging America".

Focus Group #2 addressed the following key topics:

Changes and challenges of an aging population
The cost of care and who pays for it
Delivery of dental care to an aging population
Educational and training challenges for health care providers

Panel of Experts

Led by IOH Executive Director, Dr. Ron Inge, the forum discussion included:

Douglas Berkey, DMD, MPH, MS
Univ. of Colorado Denver School of Dental Medicine;
Past President of Geriatric Oral Research Group of the Int'l Assn for Dental Research; Past Chair of Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, ADEA

Michael Helgeson , DDS
Co-Founder and CEO of Apple Tree Dental, Minnesota; Past President, Special Care Dentistry Assn and American Society for Geriatric Dentistry; Clinical Assistant Professor, Univ. of Minnesota, School of Dentistry

Judith Jones, DDS, MPH
Professor and Chair, Dept of General Dentistry, Boston Univ. School of Dental Medicine and Associate Professor of Health Services in the School of Public Health

Stephen Shuman, DDS
Associate Professor & Director, Oral Health Services for Older Adults Program, Dept of Primary Dental Care and Director of Graduate Studies, MS-Dentistry Program, Univ. of Minnesota Graduate School and School of Dentistry



	Related IOH Events 2008 Conference Highlights \| WHITEPAPER 2008 Conference Speakers 2008 Focus Groups Group #1: Feb 08 in San Diego \| WHITEPAPER Group #2: June 08 in Denver \| WHITEPAPER



	"We’re wasting money in health care, and getting poorer health outcomes. We need to spend smarter by eliminating sources of infection —having untreated infections is a huge risk factor— and that’s essentially what we’re talking about with neglected oral health" -- Dr. Michael Helgeson



	"40% of people over 65 are at the low income or poverty level – 10% are in poverty. How are we going to get dental care to these people?" -- Dr. Stephen Shuman



	"It’s going to take a mosaic of reimbursement mechanisms to get care to all elders who want care. It’s incumbent on society to think of those who are less fortunate and include them in a plan that makes sense." -- Dr. Judith Jones



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