Speaker: Tejasvita Chandel, MMSc22

Abstract: Healthy aging encompasses maintaining physical and mental well-being throughout life while being free of diseases, pain, discomfort, and functional impairment. Impaired oral function (i.e., tooth loss, tooth decay, oral diseases) cause pain and discomfort, impacting patients' chewing and eating ability leading to malnutrition, low self-esteem, and overall poorer quality of life. Furthermore, adverse oral conditions have substantial economic and social implications on individuals, families, and communities, such as treatment expenditures, loss in productivity, missed days from school/work, impacted learning, concentration, and productivity at school/work, and performing social interactions. Several studies have reported the impact of oral health/disease on quality of life. However, conceptualizing oral health and documenting its effects on quality of life is complicated and ambiguous. This session will explore the evolution and current concepts around measuring oral health outcomes and their application in patient care.

Learning Objectives:

1. Overview of “quality of life” and “oral health outcomes.”
2. Identify various Oral health-related quality-of-life (OHRQoL) tools/assessments commonly used in dental research, education, and clinical investigation. 
3. Review patient-reported outcomes in a dataset and analyze their applicability to quality of life. 

Tuition: Free, non-credit course
Course Prerequisites: None required 
Course Format: Virtual Lecture
Conflict of Interest: None reported by speaker
Contact: Caitlin Laughlin at caitlin_laughlin@hsdm.harvard.edu

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