Knowledge In Action
Nutrition in Oral Healthcare Practice: Are We Doing Enough?
Welcome to the latest installment of our monthly series — Knowledge in Action: Evidence-Based Insights for B.C. Dental Hygienists. This initiative aims to bridge the gap between research and practice by providing accessible summaries of relevant and timely research findings.
Key Findings
Recent review uncovers barriers and opportunities in integrating nutrition care
This month, we review some of the common challenges associated with implementing nutrition care practices in oral health. We will take lessons from a study that reviewed the practices of dietitians and oral health professionals.
This study offers benefits in understanding and optimizing patient care, and highlights a few key takeaways:
- Common Practices: Many oral health professionals provide general dietary advice and nutrition counseling, although often in brief sessions (~5 minutes). This highlights the importance of integrating structured and detailed nutrition interventions in clinical practice – do you have the time and resources?
- Barriers to Effective Implementation: Time constraints and lack of remuneration were common barriers for oral health professionals to providing comprehensive nutrition care.
- Need for Collaboration: Few studies reported on the collaboration between dietitians and oral health professionals, indicating a need for better integrated care models.
Did you know?: You can enhance your patient care by recommending HealthLink B.C.’s Dial-a-Dietitian service. Just dial 8-1-1 to connect your patients with registered dietitians for personalized nutrition advice.
