Prevent and Protect: Improving Children’s Oral Health

Dental caries is preventable, yet it continues to be the most common chronic disease in children. Management of the caries-prone patient requires a multifaceted approach – caries risk assessment, in office care, patient education, and at-home regimens. Dietary issues contribute to caries and erosion. Fluoride therapies play an important role in the in-office and at-home fluoride treatment programs in the prevention and management of both dental decay and erosion. This program will provide the participant with an overview of caries development, the incidence and prevalence of dental decay in various populations, differences between caries and erosion, and the role of in-office and at home fluoride therapies in the management of patients who are at risk for both conditions. An overview of Caries Risk Assessment will also be presented.

Learning objectives:

• Describe the caries development process and appropriate intervention strategies.
• Utilizing caries risk assessment techniques, assign patients to the correct caries risk level.
• Develop and implement an effective in-office and at-home fluoride treatment protocol, based on caries risk assessments.
• Identify dietary issues which contribute to caries and erosion.