Listen to the Podcast
- 1:05 – How to keep teeth healthy and keep them longer
- 3:38 – Why got into geriatric dentistry
- 5:47 – Is geriatric dentistry being taught in medical school
- 7:45 – What happens to an aging mouth
- 10:50 – Are those with chronic conditions more susceptible to oral diseases
- 12:45 – Working with individuals with cognitive conditions
- 13:54 – What are dentures
- 16:54 – Value of fat and more denture tibits (ie. don’t sleep with dentures)
- 21:05 – Value of on-going relationship with dentist
- 24:14 – What is house call dentistry
Dr. Alisa Kauffman received her B.A. degree from Lehigh University in 1981 and a D.M.D. from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Dental Medicine in 1985. She maintained her private practice in New York City until 1995 when she limited her practice to Geriatric Dentistry. Dr. Kauffman serves as the Dental Director at two skilled nursing facilities. In 2010 at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Dr. Kauffman created the geriatric dental curriculum for the LIFE program (Living Independently for Elders), a unique dental care program within the LIFE program, which is designed to keep our elders in their own residences while receiving a full range of medical, dental care as well as social and creative services at the LIFE care center in West Philadelphia. UPenn third and fourth year dental students rotated through her program so that they would become proficient in treating the geriatric population before graduation. Here they learned to work side by side with nurses and nurse practitioners developing a relationship treating the body as a whole and not just looking at teeth. She was the Chief Dental Officer at the Penn Dental Family Practices where she has maintained that position from 2011-2018 leaving to do housecalls for the elderly back in New York City full time.
Making house calls to those who cannot get out of their homes has been a life passion for her. Working with physicians and nurses to service a population of individuals who would otherwise not have dental treatment has been a commitment she feels is the reason she loves dentistry. “When you love what you are doing, it doesn’t feel like work!”
