Supportive periodontal care in dental practice: Part 1 - the importance and implications for general dental practitioners
Supportive periodontal care is an essential component of maintaining the outcome of periodontal treatment. It is essential to ensure cost benefit to both patients and the health services where millions are spent on treating patients with periodontal disease. The dentist must be able to recognise the crucial and important role they play in providing supportive care and therapy to periodontally compromised patients, either independently or as part of a wider dental team, over and above the various challenges they may experience in the provision of such care in general dental practice. The timely intervention with treatment or referral during this phase will help reduce the risk of tooth loss and adverse consequences to the dentist and their team by way of litigation. The aim of this paper is to provide an update on the delivery of supportive periodontal care in general dental practice with a particular reference to the role of the dentist.
Natural Oral Care in Dental Therapy
by
Because of increasing antibiotic resistance, stronger antibiotics are reserved for serious active infection, paving the way for a greater use of herbal antibiotics. This book helps dentists in implementing safe and effective natural medicine therapies to complement the current practice guidelines. Oral diseases continue to be a major health problem world-wide. Oral health is integral to general well-being and relates to the quality-of-life that extends beyond the functions of the craniofacial complex. The standard Western medicine has had only limited success in the prevention of periodontal disease and in the treatment of a variety of oral diseases. The dentist needs to be more informed regarding the use, safety and effectiveness of the various traditional medicines and over-the-counter products. Herbal extracts have been used in dentistry for reducing inflammation, as antimicrobial plaque agents, for preventing release of histamine and as antiseptics, antioxidants, antimicrobials, antifungals, antibacterials, antivirals and analgesics. They also aid in healing and are effective in controlling microbial plaque in gingivitis and periodontitis and thereby improving immunity. The 26 chapters in this unique book explore all the measures to utilize the natural oral care obtained from plants, animals and mineral drugs for dental care.