Date & Time: Thursday, July 20, 2023, 7:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Speaker: Kathryn Gilliam RDH, BA, MAAOSH, HIAOMT
Learning Objectives:
- Discover four tenants of the medical management of periodontal disease: risk assessment, root cause, laboratory testing, and wound care
- Illuminate the significance and challenges of oral biofilm
- Explore leading-edge practices to integrate medical protocols into dental hygiene routines efficiently and effectively.
As our understanding of the many links between the mouth and the body has increased, our roles have expanded to awareness of and focus on the whole health of our patients. Traditionally, dental health care practitioners have not approached dental disease the same way medical practitioners have approached systemic disease. There is much to be gained by adopting certain medical strategies, such as performing risk assessment, seeking the root cause, employing laboratory testing, and utilizing wound care protocols. We must unravel the complex interactions between host susceptibility, immune response, genetic associations, behavioral components, and disease control. As knowledge of oral-systemic connections has become widely understood and accepted, the next step is to integrate that knowledge into practical clinical protocols. It’s time to elevate our identities as healthcare practitioners in this new age of integrated medicine and dentistry.