Although the majority of Americans speak English fluently, there are still some 20 million people who speak very little English, and another 10 million who cannot speak English at all (NIH 2013). Of the Americans who speak English fluently, the average reading skill is at an 8th to 9th grade level (American Dental Association 2009). Since most health information is written at reading level much higher than this, many people have difficulty understanding any medical forms, instructions or other health related information (ADA 2009). Literacy and education levels, along with cultural and language barriers seem to be the largest obstacles in the way of achieving cultural literacy in many dental …show more content…
I even observed, on many occasions, the dentists giving instructions on brushing and other oral health care techniques to patients and asking the patients to practice in front of them afterwards. This made it clear that the patient had fully understood the instructions and could recreate proper techniques on their own. One thing that could use improvement would be the medical forms that were used in the office. These forms include the paperwork that is filled out prior to treatment, estimates with information about different procedures, and post operative instructions that are sent home with the patients. Even with the forms in different languages, the health information remained somewhat complicated and could use some simplification. Medical terminology and the level of vocabulary used in the forms could potentially be confusing to patients who lack experience in the dental