Dental Hygienists\u27 Contributions to Improving the Nation\u27s Oral Health Through School-Based Initiatives from 1970 Through 1999: A Historical Review

PURPOSE: The purpose of this literature review is to document the contributions dental hygienists have made over the past 3 decades to improve the nation\u27s oral health. This historical review encompasses selected literature that acknowledged dental Hygienists\u27 direct involvement in U.S. school-based or school-linked oral health programs from 1970-1999. METHODS: Five researchers independently searched MEDLINE, PubMed, and other electronic databases to identify relevant literature for the years 1970-1999. The search aimed to locate articles authored by or that documented dental Hygienists\u27 involvement as service provider in U.S. school-based oral health programs. For the purpose of this review, service provider was defined as educator, administrator, clinician, examiner, or any other unspecified service performed by a dental hygienist. RESULTS: Fifty-seven articles were retrieved, of which 36 (63%) directly linked dental hygienists to U.S. school-based activities. Twenty-seven articles specifically identified dental hygienists as service providers. Dental hygienists were listed as either primary or contributing author on 19 of these articles. CONCLUSION: The decade of the 1970s revealed very little literature documenting dental Hygienists\u27 involvement in U.S. school-based oral health programs. The 1970s, however, were instrumental in laying the foundation for service in the years that followed. As public health initiatives expanded in the 1980s, dental hygienists were identified in the largest number of papers as key personnel in the areas of education, management, service provider, and author. The decade of the 1990s yielded less literature than the 1980s, yet recognized dental Hygienists\u27 involvement in all aspects of oral health care delivery, program development and management, and authorship. The authors of this review theorize that dental hygienists were engaged in more school-based programs than reported and were involved in the authorship process more frequently than documented. Due to lack of credentials, or the omission of the words dental hygienist, RDH, or LDH, in favor of health care provider, auxiliary, or trained health care educator, it is unknown what portion of contributions made by dental hygienists remain undocumented

Changes in Personal Networks of Women in Residential and Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment

Changes in personal network composition, support and structure over 12 months were examined in 377 women from residential (n=119) and intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment (n=258) through face-to-face interviews utilizing computer based data collection. Personal networks of women who entered residential treatment had more substance users, more people with whom they had used alcohol and/or drugs, and fewer people from treatment programs or self-help groups than personal networks of women who entered intensive outpatient treatment. By 12 months post treatment intake, network composition improved for women in residential treatment; however, concrete support was still lower and substance users still more prevalent in their networks. Network composition of women in outpatient treatment remained largely the same over time. Both groups increased cohesiveness within the network over 12 months. Targeting interventions that support positive changes in personal networks may heighten positive long term outcomes for women entering treatment

Corneal Hydration Control in Contact Lens Wearers with Diabetes Mellitus

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess the acute swelling and recovery response to contact lens-induced corneal hypoxia in diabetic patients who wear contact lenses. Methods. A thick, low water content, soft contact lens was fitted under a light patch to one eye of 23 diabetic patients and one eye of 23 nondiabetic control subjects in a single-masked, controlled clinical study. After 2.5 hours an ultrasonic pachymeter was used to measure the induced corneal edema and the rate at which the cornea recovered to baseline thickness. Results. The induced corneal edema was significantly less for the diabetic patients compared with the nondiabetic control subjects (p ! 0.004). The corneas of the diabetic patients were found to recover from the induced edema at a similar rate to the corneas of the nondiabetic control subjects (p ! 0.28). Conclusions. Diabetes mellitus alters aspects of corneal hydration control. (Optom Vis Sci 2006;83:22–26