About our project
The problem we solve: We are trying to solve the gap in dental hygiene care for the homebound and disabled. Hundreds of thousands of disabled children and adults are unable to receive traditional dental care. Dental disease is highest in children and the disabled community. They aren't able to go into a dental clinic or cannot afford to wait for a community clinic. There are over 40,000 disabled in my county (Alameda County, CA) that need these services.
Please check out the facts:
https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/oral_health_disparities/index.htm
http://www.acgov.org/board/bos_calendar/documents/DocsAgendaReg_4_23_18/HEALTH%20CARE%20SERVICES/Regular%20Calendar/Persons_with_disabilities_Alameda_County_H_4_23_18.pdf
About our solution:
We started a dental hygiene group to serve this vulnerable population. We will go into different memory care facilities, nursing homes, disabled regional centers, hospitals, and schools, to provide dental hygiene services on-site.
Progress to
date:We have purchased mobile dental hygiene equipment, marketing materials, and currently meeting with executive directors of nursing facilities. We are offering dental hygiene training to the medical staff to build rapport and trust. We are gaining momentum and asking to join the care team which increases the desirability for incoming elderly and homebound. Oral health helps the individual's overall health. Family members are more like to spend intimate time with loved ones in the absence of oral infection which can have a strong unpleasant smell. There is a connection between oral hygiene health and systemic disease. If we can eliminate oral hygiene infections, we'll have a healthier community. We want to improve the elderly and disabled community's quality of life.
About Our Team
Creator: Dana Yumul
Location: California
Bio: Dana Yumul is the owner of Mobile Dental Hygiene Group. Dana is an expert in the dental field as a clinical provider and manager for over a decade treating thousands of patients. She loves to clean teeth, educate, and motivate our patients.
She has experience treating geriatric, pediatric, and the general population. She has over 60,000 hours of restorative practice that allows her to differentiate herself from other RDHAPs. She carries a restorative license, RDHEF II that allows for fillings, crowns, dentures, and root canal techniques giving a well-rounded approach to treating the patient’s dental needs. Although she plans to provide dental hygiene services only, Dana is able to recognize diseases and treatments that require the needs of a dentist or a specialist.
Dana is a mother of 3 amazing children, Giovani, Joshua Jr., and Brea. She loves to spend time with her children and husband Joshua. She also cares for her mother Lisa and two dogs Ivey and Junior.
EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene, FHCC
Associates of Science in Dental Hygiene, SJVC
RDHAP Dental Hygiene Program, UOP
RDAEF II Dental Program, UCLA
Hospital Affiliation: Home care
Title: Owner
Advanced Degree(s): RDHAP, RDH, RDA, RDA EF II
About Our Company
How We Help Patients
The need is for a mobile dental x-ray, x-ray sensor, and software. We cannot see all diseases without a dental x-ray. We need the x-rays to observe bone loss, dental caries, periodontal infection, and other emergency needs. If the patient requires a deep cleaning they must have dental x-rays. If the home-bound, disabled, or elder patient has a dental infection we can refer to an oral surgeon, dentist, or medical professional immediately if we have x-rays. The patient's health is the absolute end goal and priority, to improve their oral health. To give the opportunity to patients that are unable to receive traditional dental care. Reducing oral infection will help their overall health.
How We Help Physicians
We plan to reduce pain, oral disease, increase the overall well-being of our shared patients. We rely on your medical expertise and approval to perform dental hygiene services on-site and at their location. A healthier mouth means a healthier body. There is a connection between oral health disease and a decrease in quality of life. TOGETHER we can improve a patient's health and reduce oral infection. Reducing oral infection can help stabilize medications (or at times reduce the need for prescription) and limit the hyperactive inflammatory response by oral bacteria reduction.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525861009000061
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04197.x
How We Help Hospitals
We support hospitals by reducing patient's oral pain. Reducing infection in the mouth can help individuals well being, attitude, and physical and mental health. We will support the hospital by providing on-site dental hygiene care to patients. The patient can suffer from an oral infection that causes systemic inflammation. Oral hygiene disease can increase diabetes, heart disease, a decrease a person's quality of life. Help us to improve the disabled and elderly community's quality of life.
Innovation Details
Intellectual Property Summary
The are under 300 dental hygiene businesses in alternative practice (RDHAP) in California. There is a HUGE need for this service. I hope more people help the elderly and disabled community, the more the better.
Clinical Information
https://www.adha.org/resources-docs/2016-Revised-Standards-for-Clinical-Dental-Hygiene-Practice.pdf
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdoe.12007
Regulatory Status
NA
How we will use the funds raised
We will use the money to buy a portable x-ray unit, x-ray software, and dental billing software.
Thank You
The elderly and disabled community deserves oral hygiene health. We need to get out there and help! There are under 300 alternative hygiene practice businesses. There is an overwhelming demand for this need. Please help my mission to give the homebound, disabled, and elderly population change to save their teeth. We all have grandparents or will one day become an elder. Let us improve their health and reduce the oral hygiene disparity. When is the last time you seen an autistic, down-syndrome, or quadraplegic person in the dental office? Not often, they deserve this care! PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!
