What We Do
What do you do?
I provide weekly oral hygiene care (brushing with Xyliclean tooth gel, flossing, proxy brush, dry mouth spray, etc.) to my clients that reside in Memory Care and Assisted Living Communities. By increasing oral hygiene care, we are reducing the risk of oral problems as well as overall health problems. There is a link between aspiration pneumonia and poor oral care. I provide in-service programs on oral health education to the care staff in memory care communities. I hope to connect the dots that oral care is important to overall health. I give presentations to senior groups and senior business networking groups on the importance of oral health as we age.
Where do you practice region/location?
I live and work in the western suburbs of Chicago, although I drive to the surrounding counties. I live in an area where there are many memory care and assisted living communities.
What patient population do you serve?
My patient population are those living with dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. My Aunt lived in a memory care community for 8 years. I was her power of attorney. That is a huge responsibility when you are the person in charge of someone’s care. Before becoming involved with HyLife, I saw first-hand how little to no oral care was being done for my Aunt. She had all her natural teeth at the age of 94!! Beautiful dentistry had been done and she had wonderful oral care. Dementia can rob a person’s ability to perform the task of oral care. This is an activity of daily living that must be provided for a resident if they can’t do it themselves. Unfortunately, the staff may not have received any education or training on how to provide oral care. It is the last thing on the to do list for sure. It is the first thing that is skipped. No one really can tell if the teeth haven’t been brushed. Go a few days without shaving a resident, it shows. Oral hygiene care is not grooming. It is infection control! I try and stress this to my client families so they too can encourage the care staff to increase oral care.