Special Needs

  • Help family and careers to better assist those patients with special needs
  • Educate patients, family and careers about the bacterial infection that causes cavities
  • Understand how to neutralize the harmful effects of key risk factors
  • Delivering a more complete homecare based solution

Special needs dentistry is a new and emerging area of dentistry that is concerned with the oral health of patients who are severely affected by intellectual or physical disability, or other complex medical issues. Some patients may have dexterity problems requiring assistance to maintain even the most basic oral hygiene, while others such as those diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome are seeking saliva replacement, mouth moisturizing and neutralizing strategies.

MIX (medical induced xerostomia) is fast becoming a common problem within dentistry and was first described by Dr Edwin Zinman, DDS, JD. Dr Zinman is a trained periodontist who now operates a law firm that specializes in dental malpractice services in the USA.

There are many potential causes of xerostomia, or dry mouth and these causes include loss of saliva production as part of the natural aging process, Sjogren's syndrome, radiation to the head and neck and medication induced xerostomia. According to Dr Edwin Zinman, there are about 3000 prescription medications that list xerostomia as a possible side effect. Dr Edwin Zinman recommends the practice of CaMBRA and encourages preventative dentistry strategies for patients who may suffer from MIX.

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.
  • 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.