Orthodontics
- Protect healthy teeth from an increased risk of decay while in orthodontics
- A great way to improve homecare, its more than just good hygiene
- Patient screening to quantify the bacterial threat
- Avoid unsightly white spot lesions
A concern for many patients, referring dentists, and orthodontists alike is what condition the teeth will be in after orthodontic treatment. The placement of orthodontic brackets, automatically increases the risk of caries which can compromise the overall outcome for the patient. Traditionally much emphasis is placed on good oral hygiene instruction during orthodontics, however this alone may not be enough to prevent white spot lesions and decay.
New advances in patient screening technology, offers orthodontists a quick and convenient systematic approach to quantify bacterial activity within the plaque biofilm surrounding orthodontic brackets.
The latest caries research has identified a number of key concepts:
- The caries infection is not pathogen specific, it is a biofilm disease and currently there are more than 30 identified bacterial species implicated in the disease process.
- pH is the strongest “selection pressure” that determines whether these cariogenic strains are present at pathogenic levels.
- Key risk factors can determine a patients’ susceptibility to this infection or bacterial imbalance.
A new level of understanding:
Dr. John Kois states that “caries risk assessment identifies patients at risk for dental caries even before they have expressed the disease and best targets treatment for those patients that have already expressed the disease. We need to find ways, like CariFree, to help our patients move from the repair model to the wellness model.”
Solutions for your practice
- Establish a simple evidence based risk assessment protocol that can be easily incorporated within your examination process.
- A simple bacterial screening program can help to quantify any bacterial imbalance providing the opportunity for early preventative intervention options
- You already identify patients who are susceptible to the caries disease, those patients who have cavities. Determine what recommendation can be made in addition to the restorative work to treat and correct the underlying bacterial imbalance.
- Take a look at the products you currently recommend and confirm if they treat the underlying infection or just repair or remineralize the damaged site.
- Consider the pH of any oral healthcare products that the patient may use and its effect on the oral environment.
