Senior Dental Care Access Is a Crisis — And Dental Professionals Can Change That
This time of year, I always find myself thinking about the older adults in our communities. The ones who built what we live inside of. The ones who showed up, sacrificed, raised families, built careers, and then one day found themselves in a nursing home or an assisted living community — waiting for care that […]
Why a Mobile Dentistry Career Is the Most Powerful Move You Can Make Right Now
A mobile dentistry career is not what most dental professionals picture when they imagine their future. I know, because I did not picture it either. And then I drove forty minutes out to a nursing home on a Tuesday morning, and everything changed. When I arrived, the charge nurse met me at the door looking […]
The Surprising Connection Between Gum Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease
The Surprising Connection Between Gum Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease Miss Carol caught me off guard, honestly. Her husband had Alzheimer’s. She had been doing this alone for two years, managing everything, and that particular afternoon I was helping her with his oral care routine when she just stopped and looked at me. “Sonya,” she said, […]
7 Oral Signs of Elder Neglect Every Caregiver Should Recognize
The first time I truly understood how much a mouth can tell you, I was standing at the bedside of a man named Mr. Alvin. Quiet man. Kind eyes. His family was far away and they trusted the facility to handle things day to day. That trust, it turned out, had not been honored. When […]
Oral Care for Dementia Patients: What Every Caregiver Needs to Know
I think about her often, actually. Thirty-two years in a classroom. She had a way of walking into a room like she owned it — lipstick on, chin up, not a hair out of place. Her former students still called her on her birthday. By the time her family brought me in, she was somewhere […]