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The article focuses on the ethical and professional responsibility to combat racism in dental practice including the moral obligation to address racism, the role of dental professionals in promoting equity, and the importance of refraining from harm in healthcare settings.

AbstractObjectiveDesignStudy sampleResultsConclusionTo describe application scenarios of a mobile device that provides a practical means for showcasing potential hearing aid benefits.A prototype of a hearing aid demonstrator based on circumaural headphones and a mobile signal processing platform was developed, providing core functions of a hearing aid, including several gain presets, in a hygienic, robust, and easy-to-use form factor. Speech intelligibility outcomes with the demonstrator and broadband level adaptations as potential fitting references were compared to outcomes with the own hearing aids of hearing-impaired participants. Furthermore, subjective assessments of the effect of the demonstrator were obtained at a public outreach event.20 experienced hearing aid users participated in the speech intelligibility outcome measurements. 54 citizens participated in the public outreach event.Speech intelligibility measurements made with the demonstrator constituted a better predictor for typically achieved aided speech intelligibility outcomes than broadband level adaptations. Participants at the public outreach event reported that trying out the demonstrator changed their expectations of hearing aid benefits and improved their understanding of how hearing aids work.The developed demonstrator promises to be a useful tool for showcasing and probing benefits of hearing aids in clinical, public, and educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The children's novel "Out of the Dust" (Hesse, 1997) is an evocative portrayal of the drought and dust storms that devastated Midwestern farms in the 1930s. Through the voice of her 13-year-old narrator, Karen Hesse intertwines history and free verse poetry to create what many readers find to be a moving depiction of the Oklahoma Dustbowl experience. The novel's power has been widely recognized, winning a number of prestigious honors, including the Newbery Medal. In addition to its critical success, "Out of the Dust" is a valuable text in the classroom. With the same setting as the opening of "The Grapes of Wrath" (Steinbeck, 1939) and with a writing style and vocabulary that make it immensely readable, "Out of the Dust" helps build background knowledge for students' understanding of Steinbeck's novel. By using "Out of the Dust," teachers offer students not only an engaging text, but one that can provide academic scaffolds to other historical and literary texts. As a result of all that this celebrated children's text offers, it is much more likely to be singled out for acclamation than critique. It is the author's stance in this article, however, that using Hesse's novel in the classroom is problematic without a critical literacy framework. That novel, like many current and classic texts, depicts the 1930s Dustbowl exclusively in relation to White experiences. Using that novel without questioning the limitations of those representations serves to privilege White experiences and to marginalize the experiences of Oklahomans of color as well as significant aspects of Oklahoma and U.S. history. The process of uncovering those marginalized stories with the goal of problematizing the dominant depiction of the Dustbowl is the focus of this article. (Contains 4 figures and 1 note.)

This article describes and assesses a course design that uses peer mentors to facilitate a collaborative, hands-on learning experience in an introductory marketing course. Results demonstrate that peer mentoring increased content mastery and had a positive effect on students' perceptions of the learning experience. Peer marketing mentors, along with the faculty team, achieved success in providing a demanding and engaging learning environment that meets the needs of learners and equips them with content knowledge required of career-ready professionals. A step-by-step guide is provided to enable others to develop a similar experience for students in their institutions.

Objectives: Current guidelines by the American Dental Association (ADA) recommend deferral of elective dental care for elevated blood pressure. However, it is unknown how frequently this impacts dental treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate rates of asymptomatic hypertension and treatment deferral at a dental school clinic. Methods: This was a retrospective study with data extracted from a chart review of all patients presenting for care at a dental school teaching practice. Differences in dental procedures, the time between visits, and the number of antihypertensive medications were calculated between patients with and without a blood pressure reading exceeding current guidelines for elective treatment. Results: Among 26,821 individuals, 1265 had a visit with elevated blood pressure. Blood pressure readings at the next visit were significantly lower (systolic blood pressure 137 [95% confidence interval {CI} 135–138] mmHg, diastolic blood pressure 82 [95% CI 81–83 mmHg], p < 0.001), although only 24 patients reported taking a new medication. Only 4.1% of these patients had a procedure deferred; for those that did, the average intervisit time was 88.2 days (95% CI 77.7–98.7 days). Conclusions: The majority of patients with blood pressure readings exceeding current ADA recommendations for treatment were treated without evidence of harm. Patients were also unlikely to return to the clinic with new medications for blood pressure after a visit with an elevated blood pressure reading. Oral health providers must weigh the risks and benefits of care deferral and can consider an expanded role in hypertension management in dental settings when caring for patients with elevated blood pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to expand the possibilities of support that children's and young adult literature provides to activist-oriented educators. Joining our voices to others who have made significant contributions to this emphasis, our work examines a too-often-silenced aspect of activism: its intersection with spirituality. Using an inclusive conceptualization of spirituality that emphasizes diversity and complexity, we present and engage with a range of picture books and novels relevant to spiritual activism. We first present a literature review that traces the use of literature in the teaching of activism and spirituality. Drawing from this scholarship, we identify key criteria for selecting spiritual activist texts. Next, we discuss several texts that meet these criteria in relation to four overarching themes: 1) aligning activist approaches with spiritualities, 2) invoking praxis to sustain a vision of change, 3) identifying activist strategies for effecting change, and 4) negotiating across spiritual boundaries. This discussion foregrounds the power of these texts to explore how people's spiritualities sustain and inspire their activist efforts. We conclude by extending these implications with specific recommendations for educators who seek to nourish the activism and spirituality of children and youth.

There is wide recognition that children's lives are directly affected by inequitable practices in relation to aspects of identity such as gender, ethnicity, class, and citizenship. Yet, despite this acknowledgement, few scholars have explored how children are challenging inequities. This examination of the actions and stories of one-nine-year-old female addresses that silence. Data analysis illustrates the ways in which she was enacting social activist tenets. Also illuminated are the hurdles inherent to adult recognition of children's activism. These findings underline the problematic role that deficit framings of children play in our understanding of their perspectives and capabilities.

This article is informed by multiliteracies pedagogy which recognizes the dynamic nature of reading and writing, particularly in relation to the multiple languages, literacy practices, texts, modalities, and interactions that are part of our world. This framework offers educators a greater appreciation of students' collaborations and text productions in music, image, movement, and voice, as well as print texts. It also provides opportunities to highlight and learn from students' diverse knowledges. Collaborations extend the potential to expand cultural knowledges, an aspect evident in the story creation of 4 urban girls presented in this article. Also evident, however, is the ease with which collaborations lead to inequitable reproductions that privilege dominant discourses while labeling others problematic or "crazy." These findings demonstrate the need for educators to explicitly recognize and support learners' diverse knowledges. Specific steps educators can take in order to create educational contexts that support more equitable collaborations are provided. (Contains 3 figures.)

This article addresses the challenges of supporting students' engagement with complex, challenging texts. How do teachers sustain students' interactions with texts that many see as irrelevant to their lives? How do they provide space to name and challenge the simplistic or problematic portrayals of cultures and communities often found in the texts we are required to teach? In this article, the author presents answers to these questions with the belief that these obstacles are worth overcoming. The author details three activities that have helped her support students in understanding; engaging with; and critiquing complex, challenging texts: guided role-play, a prereading activity that helps readers activate relevant prior knowledge; points of contact, an activity used to highlight and raise questions about textual biases; and collaborative reenactments that support readers in bringing character interactions to life. (Contains 3 figures.)

This article describes the results of an inquiry/multigenre project undertaken by students in a literacy foundations course. The project's initial pedagogical goal was to provide pre- and in-service teachers with multiple and engaging opportunities to read and write in areas of their interests. That goal expanded to encompass the critical literacy emphasis that spontaneously emerged through students' inquiry pursuits. Students produced multigenre texts that identified and explored biases and marginalizations. When the project was revised to include this critical literacy emphasis, students produced texts which used a range of genre, formal and informal, visual and print, to construct texts which challenge and address the social inequities they had identified. This article presents two of these inquiry/multigenre papers and analyzes them to explore how a combination of inquiry research and multigenre texts supports students' expanded knowledge of and skill with literacy and their production of powerful, creative texts. The results offer compelling evidence that this project allows teachers to make theoretical insights from work in genre and multiple literacies relevant to their lives and practice. The relevance of this project for the work of teacher educators, as well as specific ways to strengthen those implications are also discussed. Inquiry/Multigenre Project Guidelines are appended. (Contains 9 figures.)

Objectives: Poor oral health during pregnancy poses risks to maternal and infant well‐being. However, limited research has documented how proximate stressful life events (SLEs) during the prenatal period are associated with oral health and patterns of dental care utilization. Methods: Data come from 13 states that included questions on SLEs, oral health, and dental care utilization in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System for the years 2016–2020 (n = 48,658). Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between levels of SLE (0, 1–2, 3–5, or 6+) and a range of (1) oral health experiences and (2) barriers to dental care during pregnancy while controlling for socio‐demographic and pregnancy‐related characteristics. Results: Women with more SLEs in the 12 months before birth—especially six or more—reported worse oral health experiences, including not having dental insurance, not having a dental cleaning, not knowing the importance of caring for teeth and gums, needing to see a dentist for a problem, going to see a dentist for a problem, and unmet dental care needs. Higher levels of SLEs were also associated with elevated odds of reporting barriers to dental care. Conclusions: SLEs are an essential but often understudied risk factor for poor oral health, unmet dental care needs, and barriers to dental care services. Future research is needed to understand better the mechanisms linking SLEs and oral health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Medicare does not cover routine dental care, but little is known about transitions in dental outcomes upon reaching Medicare eligibility at age sixty-five. Using data from the 2010-19 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys, we examined dental insurance, utilization, and outcomes among US adults before and after age sixty-five, using a regression discontinuity design and segmented regression analysis. Among 97,108 US adults representing a weighted population of 104,787,300 people, complete edentulism, or the loss of all teeth, increased by 4.8 percentage points at age sixty-five, and the percentage of people receiving restorative dental care decreased by 8.7 percentage points. Enrollment in Medicare Advantage, which may offer a dental benefit, was not associated with greater use of dental services relative to traditional Medicare, and Medicare Advantage enrollees had a significantly larger drop in dental spending from private insurance at age sixty-five than traditional Medicare enrollees. Expanding Medicare to cover dental services may help counteract these effects among all enrollees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicare provides comprehensive medical coverage for nearly all U.S. adults over age 65 and those with disabilities, with far-reaching improvements in health care access and equity for those it serves. Despite recent political action, the dental coverage gap persists. Considering data through 2023, this review examines the status of oral health provisions through traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage and the logistics of expanded dental benefits in Medicare. The mechanism of dental coverage as well as the generosity of this benefit have important implications for oral health equity among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]