Recommendations for the Holistic Dental Management of Trans Patients

 

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE

  • It has been reported that trans individuals experience increased levels of dental anxiety and barriers when accessing dental care services, such as refusal to provide care, harassment and bullying, as well as patient delay in seeking care due to fear of discrimination. Recommendations for appreciating the individual requirements of trans patients include equality, diversity, and inclusion training for the dental team, establishment of a zero-tolerance policy related to transphobia, and inclusion of LGBT+ health inequalities and needs in dental school curricula. Dental teams are encouraged to develop an open and nonjudgmental setting, putting the patient at ease while encouraging communication and establishing rapport. All patients should be asked which pronouns they prefer, and the answers documented in the health record. Following a disclosure, the information must be kept confidential and patient privacy ensured.

  • The authors conclude that ensuring that dental teams are sensitive and competent in treating trans patients will result in trans people feeling safe, respected, and cared for holistically.
–  Laurie C. Carter, DDS, PhD

It is essential to raise awareness of the health and social needs of trans individuals. This article presents the barriers that trans people may encounter when accessing healthcare services and offers practical recommendations on how holistic care may be achieved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Consensus Statement on the Relationship Between Centric Occlusion and the Maximal Intercuspal Position and Their Use as Treatment Positions for Complete Mouth Rehabilitation

Image
  TAKE-HOME MESSAGE This best evidence consensus statement aimed to examine the relationship between centric occlusion (CO) and maximal intercuspation position (MIP) and the use of either as a treatment position for complete mouth rehabilitations in dentate or partially dentate patients. A total of 313 articles contributed to this review, finding that CO and MIP are not coincident in a majority of the population. With regard to complete mouth rehabilitation, most reports suggest that CO provides a physiologic, reliable, and reproducible position, with limited reports finding an association between TMJ symptomatology and CO-MIP discrepancies in the treated dentition. While CO-MIP discrepancies are the norm in the natural dentition, complete rehabilitations seem to perform better at CO rather than MIP based on available evidence. It should be noted that the authors could not include lower-quality evidence supporting the use of MIP as the treatm...
Read more

Gingival Overgrowth Induced by Anticonvulsant Drugs

Image
  TAKE-HOME MESSAGE This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of gingival overgrowth and the differences among causative drugs in epileptic patients. A total of 162 patients were included, with the incidence of overgrowth among those taking a single drug (37%) being comparable with that among those taking multiple drugs (45%). Drugs in decreasing order of associated incidence of overgrowth were oxcarbazepine (71%), lamotrigine (61%), phenobarbital (53%), phenytoin (50%), valproic acid (44%), and carbamazepine (32%). Phenytoin and valproic acid have historically been known to cause gingival overgrowth in epileptic patients. The findings of this study remind us that multiple other drugs used in the management of epileptic patients have varying potential to cause gingival overgrowth, some with even higher potential than phenytoin and valproic acid. –  Tapan N. Koticha, BDS, MDS   Clinical Dentistry Written by ...
Read more

Knowledge of and Treatment Practices for Erosive Tooth Wear Among Finnish Dentists

Image
  TAKE-HOME MESSAGE Erosive tooth wear (ETW) is a chemical loss of mineralized tooth substance caused by the exposure to acids mainly from foods or from the GI system. The prevalence and severity of ETW among children and adolescents is increasing with limited measures to improve awareness among patients and oral healthcare providers. This study interviewed 866 dentists from Finland regarding the approach to evaluate and treat ETW based on a clinical case shared by email. A great majority of the respondents (98.0%) recorded ETW in the patient pictures, but only 4.1% used a detailed scoring system. Of the respondents, 64.4% usually found the cause of ETW. The consumption of carbonated beverages (84.3%) and energy drinks (57.0%) and reflux disease (53.1%) were reported to be probable causes. The majority of the respondents (80.9%) usually assessed patients' dietary history while 1.9% evaluated the saliva secretion rate.  Finnish dentists successfully detected and/or diagnos...
Read more