“Cha-may weeya ”
Medicine Talk
Siletz
Community
Health
Clinic
Tooth Talk
by Linda Kreutzer, RDH
Power Toothbrushes
L to R: Stephanie Morrow, Doreen Rilatos, LaRita Lundy (seated), Sunshine
Keck (seated), Marlene Van Noy, and Pam Lane celebrate their "Site of the
Year” award from Infonnatix Laboratories.
Patient Accounts Staff Wins
Site of the Year Award
“We would like to thank Informatix Laboratories Corporation for recognizing
us with your Site of the Year award. We have worked hard in order to serve our
tribal people and community better and more efficiently. We thank you for helping
us accomplish that.
We embrace change if it helps us meet our goals of higher service. Version II
is a tool that has empowered us in the area of information compilation. We now
have the ability to track our patient accounts more quickly and accurately, serving
our patients better. Patient Accounts is very grateful to Informatix for designing
the check-in system that was introduced to our clinic last May. This check-in
system has proven to be a valuable tool in patient information. It has tremendously
impacted our billing information, which has ultimately improved our third-party
billing revenue. We would like to thank the Informatix team (Vince, Lisa, Steven,
Vicky, Pat, Jennifer, and Calvin, to name a few) for going through this time of
challenge with us.
The Siletz Community Health Clinic is a fairly complex clinic. We have three
full-time providers and four part-time providers. They are supported with laboratory
and radiology services. We also have a pharmacy that dispenses over 20,000
prescriptions a year. We have dental services with two full-time dentists and a
dental hygienist. We also offer optometry, physical therapy, and health education
services. Our patient load is 13 percent non-native. Half of our Native American
patients have insurance, so collecting third-party revenues is important to
us financially.
We truly regret that we are not here in person to accept this award. There are
many people at the Siletz Community Health Clinic who participated in making
the Informatix Version II system a very workable system. We would like to
recognize Dorene Rilatos, Patient Accounts supervisor; LaRita Lundy, Pam Lane,
and Chuvonne Metcalf, Patient Accounts staff; Rayona Zosel, data entry technician;
Marlene Van Noy, QI coordinator; Sunshine Keck, site manager; Erin Kirk, Medical
Support supervisor; and Casey Bolan, receptionist.”
Editor's Note: The preceding speech was given on behalf of the Patient
Accounts staff at the ILC Users Conference in Las Vegas, Nev., in April. Staff
members were unable to attend the conference to accept their award.
18
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Siletz News
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July 2001
A lot of patients ask about battery-
powered toothbrushes. Are they better
than the old-fashioned way by hand?
In some ways yes, especially
for children.
Children get bored with brushing.
Anything that makes this chore more
interesting helps a lot. I especially like
the children’s power toothbrushes with
an automatic timer built in. This means
the toothbrush goes for about two
minutes then turns off automatically.
This encourages kids to brush long
enough to do some good, not just
a quick “run-through.”
Patients have been telling
me about cheap, colorful
power toothbrushes for adults
and children at Wal-Mart for
under $5. I have yet to find them, but
from the good results I’ve seen in the
mouths of patients who use them, they
work great!
What a range in prices one can find
- from a $98 Sonic Care to a $35
Oral-B and now these inexpensive ones.
The best one is Sonic Care because it’s
designed to jet “bubbles” between the
teeth, destroying bacteria that die when
exposed to the oxygen in the bubbles.
This may be a good idea if flossing
never happens in your mouth. If flossing
is a daily habit, any toothbrush will do
(as long as it has soft bristles).
Remember, all toothbrush heads need
to be tossed at around three months. A
frayed toothbrush doesn’t work well at
removing plaque and may even damage
the gums.
Dental hygienists are trained to help
people learn the basics of good
oral
hygiene.
Correct
toothbrush method is best
learned as a child with a regular
toothbrush and practiced at least
twice daily for life. The same idea
goes for flossing because skills
learned early in life are the ones
that last.
As a hygienist, I encourage parents
to make sure their children can do a
good job brushing all of their teeth well
before relying on a power toothbrush.
It’s really not necessary to use one in
order to do a good job, but they sure
are nice when kids get in that “I don’t
wanna brush” slump!
Technology is making progress in
the dental field. Power-flossers have hit
the market, proving to be much easier
to use and just as effective in reducing
gum disease (gingivitis) as flossing by
hand. These still are quite expensive,
but in time the price will come down.
Join our 100-Mile Club!
Do you want a stronger, healthier
body? Are you up to a challenge this
summer? Walking is an excellent
exercise for just about everyone, and
we have an event going this summer
that’s guaranteed to get you excited
about getting out and moving!
Our 1 (X)-MiIe Club will officially
run for eight weeks between August
and October, but we will honor miles
you walk in June and July as long as
you keep written track of them and
someone else witnesses at least half
of the miles.
We will offer some special
weekend walking opportunities. We’ll
also provide prizes along the way for
accomplishing progress toward your
100-mile goal - and we’ll have a
special awards dinner at the end
for finishers!
Look for more information next
month, and start tracking those miles!
Sponsored by the Community
Health Department and the IHS
Diabetes Grant.