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ePaper created 2014-09-11, 14:44:02 | version 1.30.01
News Friday, 12 September 2014 I Besides fluoridation, what tools are currently available for dentists to helppreventdiseaseslikeECC? The concept of early risk assess- mentwasproposedintheUSalmost20 yearsago.In2003,theAmericanAcad- emy of Pediatrics finally endorsed the age1visit,whichreallyemphasisesen- suring that these very young children are being seen or risk assessed. Caries ManagementbyRiskAssessment,also called CAMBRA, has three main do- mains.First,youhavealltheriskfactors and second, you look at the protective factors present. Finally, you have the clinical findings. You try to balance the risk factors, with the goal of improving the clinical findings, by introducing as manyprotectivefactorsaspossible. By age 1, we look into the mouth to ensure that the child has no signs of earlychildhoodcaries,whichisgener- ally characterised by very chunky white lesions around the tooth. These are the first signs of disease progres- sionintheseyoungkids. Thenwestart treating the white spot lesions with combination therapy, including fluo- ride,phosphateandcalcium. IHowsuccessfulhastheimplementa- tionofthisconceptbeeninyourcoun- try and can you talk a little bit about theresults? It is still work in progress, since manyprovidersremainreluctanttosee infants or pregnant women. However, with early risk assessment we now haveanewconsensusthatdefinesthe need for those measures and a stan- dardofcareforthesevulnerablepopu- lations. It also ensures that we get the appropriate training, especially for fu- turegenerationsofdentists. So far, a few clinical trials have been conducted, using a fluoride var- nish application, for example. It has shown to be very effective, as long as thereisparentalengagementtosome extent. You really have to address changing the behaviour of the care- giver or the parent. They then bring these changes to their children. We actually spend a lot of time teaching and learning about parental engage- ment and how we can convey the valueofgoodoralhealthtothesefam- ilies at a very early stage. They might have had a bad experience with their dentist in the past, but we need to show them that this is a 100 per cent preventabledisease. Adultshavecontrolofwhattheydo athome,likereducingthechild’scon- sumption of unhealthy snacks and sugary foods like juice or sugar liquid substances, throughout the day and thenight. The one recommendation we usu- ally struggle the most with is to em- phasise the need for brushing or re- movingtheplaque,especiallyatnight, and exposing the child to fluoride toothpaste. This should generally be the last thing touching the teeth be- foretheygotobed. I With this in mind, what are the prospectsforsuchaconcepttobeim- plemented in countries like India, where oral health awareness is rela- tivelylow? Weneedinterprofessionalcollabo- ration between medicine, dentistry and related areas like nursing. I also think that corporate sponsors are es- sential to establishing these kind of measures in a country like India. I would strongly recommend, espe- cially after the FDI has had the chance to adopt the policy statement, that we worktogetherwithmanufacturerslike Colgate,Crest,Oral-B,andother,toen- surethateverychildinthesecountries hasaccesstothethreemostimportant weapons against dental disease, which are a toothbrush, fluoridated toothpaste, and safe, clean, fluori- dated drinking water where appropri- ateandavailable.Regardlessifyoulive in India or any other country in the world, we need to push this for every child.Itisamatterofsocialjusticeand human rights that they have also ac- cesstotheseimportantequities. I You already spoke about interpro- fessional collaboration. Does this mean that the problem cannot be solved by the dental profession alone? It is essential that we take a multi- disciplinary approach for the imple- mentation and integration of oral health into primary care. We need to emphasise and ensure that we are working in unison with physicians, physician assistants, and paediatri- ciansthroughouttheworldtoconveya loud and clear message that dental diseasescanbedetectedveryearlyon, and thatchildren do not have to go through their young lives suffering fromdentalpain.Iamactuallyastrong believer that the whole area of inter- professional multidisciplinary collab- oration is essential for the future suc- cessandgrowthofourprofession. I Thank you very much for the inter- view. 8 www.fdiworldental.org 6 Months Clinical MastersTM Program in Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry On location session, hands on + online learning and mentoring Learn from the Masters of Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry: Collaborate on your cases and access hours of premium video training and live webinars University of the Pacific you will receive a certificate from the University of the Pacific Latest iPad with courses all registrants receive an iPad preloaded with premium dental courses 12-15 November 2014 a total of 4 days of intensive live training in Dubai (UAE) Registration information: contact us at tel.: +49 341 48474 302 email: request@tribunecme.com Details on www.TribuneCME.com Dubai Session, 12-15 November 2014 Curriculum fee: € 3,450 (you can decide at any time to complete the entire Clinical Masters Program and take the remaining session) *iPad only available for the participants in the entire Cinical Master Program ADA CERP C.E. CREDITS50 Topics Anterior Composite Restorations Demystifying Anteriors Posterior Direct Restorations Conservative Indirect Esthetic Restorations Tribune America LLC is the ADA CERP provider. ADA CERP is a service of the American Dental Association to assist dental professionals in identifying quality providers of continuing dental education. ADA CERP does not approve or endorse individual courses or instructors, nor does it imply acceptance of credit hours by boards of dentistry. Supported by: AD “We need interprofessional collabo- ration between medicine, dentistry and related areas like nursing.”