Oral prophylaxis is assuming a central role in the modern dental surgery and represents an important cornerstone in the prevention of dental as well as general diseases.
Patients in all age groups want to keep their original teeth for a lifetime if possible along with preventing oral disease. The dental industry is offering them a constantly changing range of aids and instruments aimed at domestic oral care. To ensure that this is used correctly and purposefully at home, professional support by dentists and prophylaxis teams is absolutely essential. The experts are faced with the important task of informing their patients individually, age-specifically and comprehensively as well as practicing the use of regular domestic prophylactic measures. In addition, the dental surgery is ready to provide a regular professional dental cleaning (PDC) service, on the basis of which specific treatment concepts can be produced especially for the current increase in cases of periodontal diseases.
Today dental prophylaxis already plays a significant role within oral health management, as was recently established by the Institute of German Dentists (Institut der Deutschen Zahnarzte - IOZ). In the period 1998 to 2008 in Germany, turnover volume in the preventive care sector rose from 40 to 90 billion Euro. This increase corresponds to the increased awareness among the population for the significance of oral health, health in general and quality of life. There has also been a corresponding increase in the acceptance of direct-payer services, which indicate that we can expect annual growth of approx. 2.4 per cent by the year 2030. The demographic transformation in an increasingly aging population will tend to strengthen this trend even further. In addition, in the same period, a significant increase in workplaces in German oral health management is to be expected: The current total of 406,000 is expected to rise by 70,000 - especially due to the increasing demand for preventive treatment.
Dental prophylaxis is receiving effective support from the dental industry: intensive research into oral diseases and the development of therapeutic processes has been conducted with immense commitment and application for years in close cooperation with the scientific sector. Modern preventive concepts enable a more efficient dental hygiene-based post-care following prosthetic, implant or endodontic treatment. The whole spectrum of professional prophylaxis measures can be used today by dentists, dental assistants, dental prophylactic assistants and dental hygiene assistants for a successful specialization and expansion of their services catalogue. For this group of persons, we especially recommend they make use of the diverse range of information on the theme of prophylaxis available at the 35th IDS from 12th to 16th March 2013 in Cologne.
Modern auxiliary aids for effective domestic bio-film management
A regularly and correctly applied plaque control through daily domestic oral care is a decisive component of every prophylactic concept. To this end, the dental industry is making available a large number of functional and ergonomic teeth-cleaning aids as well as other care measures. This covers modern hand toothbrushes as well as the especially effective electric toothbrushes. Their premium variations also have external, motivation-boosting displays and other support aids for the user. In this connection, their special attachable brushes fulfil diverse tasks, fully according to individual requirements. In order to motivate even more patients to use electric toothbrushes, newly designed attachable brushes are now available, which make the changeover easier for the previous fans of hand toothbrushes.
IDS 2013 will also be presenting the entire spectrum of highly developed toothpaste formulations. With their scientifically refined formulas, they create first-class prerequisites for daily individual prophylaxis in every age group. The combination of toothpaste and electric toothbrush is supported by effective oral rinsing, which also occupies a key position in domestic prophylaxis. These elements are complemented by special interdental brush systems, dental floss and sticks along with many other products. The dental industry is now facing up to and countering the problems of xerostomia, which go hand in hand with an increasingly older and frequently heavily medicated population, in the form of special gels aimed at countering oral dryness.
In a key position: professional prophylaxis and diagnostics
It is only the dental prevention-orientated support and commitment of the specialized dental surgery team that enables the patient's desire for the life-long preservation of natural teeth to be fulfilled. Only professional preventive measures in the dental surgery ensure the effective control and avoidance of caries, gingivitis and other oral diseases. Age-based individual prophylaxis concepts serve the preservation of oral hygiene, and in addition provide a central component in the overall surgery success. An increasingly important role is being played here by professional dialogue management aimed at boosting the patients' motivation in the long term. In this area too science and the dental industry are providing the practitioners with helpful impulses and continuation training options.
Preventive measures are being promoted by further developed complete treatment systems from the dental industry. In particular, patients with increased caries or at risk of periodontitis, with insufficient oral hygiene or a large number of dental restorations, are benefiting from many new and further developments, occasionally also from strongly revised methods as indicated for example by the comeback of powder blaster appliances. In the area of orthodontic treatment, after-care, implant treatment or other dental care too, preventive, anti-bacterial measures can decisively influence whether treatment is successful or not.
Dental prophylaxis is also based on a highly developed diagnostic range of instruments. Modern analytical as well as imaging processes can be used in today's dental surgery. Apart from classic processes, these include high-resolution intraoral cameras, camera-supported fluorescence processes and digital 3D-x-ray systems right up to computer tomography. In addition, specialized manufacturers are offering molecular-biological as well as bio-chemical diagnostic systems, which can be used to help identify the germ spectrums of relevance in the development of oral disease and to also analyse individual risks.
Surgery success through prophylaxis as team service
Oral health and systematic health are closely connected with each other and the patient is becoming increasingly aware of this. Among the patients there is more interest than ever before in preserving hard dental tissue and periodontal structures in the long term. An age-orientated individual preventive system is therefore becoming the key to sustainable success in the dental surgery. The dentists themselves should therefore take charge of actively ensuring the integration of prophylaxis in everyday surgery routine. In addition to the implementation of modern scientific-technical innovations, the entire surgery team is charged with the task of motivating the patient to ensure their compliance - absolutely necessary for the prophylaxis - through the use of professionally conducted communication, for example motivational interviewing.
The dental industry is offering the prevention-orientated dental surgery a large spectrum of continuation training possibilities. A well trained prophylaxis team can reliably assess individual risks right from the start and improve the health of the individual patient to a considerable degree. This promotes the patients' compliance in conscientiously keeping scheduled recall appointments as well as correctly conducting domestic oral hygiene. Competent and expert prophylaxis services also increase the acceptance of the surgery - in this day and age of competitive competition this is a success factor not to be underestimated.
How these measures and specialization possibilities can be integrated in the daily routine of a dental surgery will be shown by the solutions presented during the IDS - International Dental-Show - in Cologne (12th to 16th March 2013) by the prophylaxis specialists present from many renowned companies in the dental industry. During the fair their know-how and experience will be available to the interested trade visitors. The IDS also offers the opportunity to pose specific questions and engage in panel discussions with the experts. For trade visitors a unique international forum is available here, where they can obtain competent advice on all aspects of dental prophylaxis.
"The International Dental Show, leading fair for dental practices and laboratories, held in Cologne from 12th to 16th March 2013, offers the dentist and his team a unique opportunity to comprehensively inform themselves in dialogue with specialists from exhibiting firms and experienced users about the spectrum of modern prophylactic concepts along with current trends in preventive therapy and diagnostics," explains Dr. Markus Heibach, Executive Director, VDDI.
IDS takes place in Cologne every two years and is organized by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI), and staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.
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