TOGETHER WE CAN BUILD HEALTHIER & BRIGHTER SMILES

This course is designed to educate dental professionals on the oral health needs common to nursing home residents and care-dependent patients, as well as the role dental professionals can play in promoting oral health among these populations and their caregivers. These are vulnerable populations that suffer from multiple barriers, such as reduced access to oral healthcare, potential physical or mental limitations, and dependence on others for daily care. Among nursing home residents, oral conditions and related effects on general health include dental decay, periodontal disease, fungal infections, abscesses, aspiration pneumonia, and many conditions related to dietary deficiencies. The dental community plays a critical role in treating the patients that visit dental offices and clinics. However, dental professionals are also needed to educate nursing staff, caregivers, and patients who are confined to long-term facilities or their homes.

This course will review current literature on the effectiveness of flossing and other interdental cleaning methods for patients with periodontal health, gingivitis, and periodontitis. In August 2016, the Associated Press (AP) printed an article that was widely disseminated in the lay media that there is scanty research supporting flossing as a method to improve oral health outcomes. This course will look at the 2011 Cochrane systematic review upon which the government based its decision to omit the recommendation to floss from the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the 2015 European Federation of Periodontology’s Workgroup 2015 statement, as well as the broader literature and scientific rationale behind flossing and interdental cleaning. Finally, this course will evaluate the utility of interdental cleaning methods in patients with high caries risk, periodontal health, gingivitis, and periodontitis.

Patients are more educated and asking more questions about their oral health. Dental professionals today can be overwhelmed by the number and variety of toothbrushes regularly surfacing on the market and the many differing technologies. All of these advances oblige dental professionals to seek information that will enable them to make the best product recommendations based on proven clinical effectiveness and gentleness, their own clinical experience, and patient preferences.