Disease Management & Risk Assessment

Course Description

In this course residents learn the fundamental concepts of health promotion and disease prevention. Emphasis is on assessment, health promotion, and risk reduction/ prevention related to oral health. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Association of Pediatrics currently recommend that children receive their first dental evaluation within the first year of life. In general, there is an increasing trend toward providing dental care to children before the age of three. The reasons for early dental intervention with pregnant women, infants and parents are to determine the risk status based on the information from the parents and to perform a screening risk assessment and examination of infants’ mouths. This early care provides an opportunity to educate and inform parents about their children’s oral health. Anticipatory guidance/counseling for children’s dental health is an important part of preventive care, and may be the most effective way to prevent problems (such as early childhood caries (ECC)) that traditional infectious-disease models have failed to address.

In addition to didactic session, under the leadership of Dr. Ramos-Gomez the pediatric dental residents participate in teaching and mentoring pre-doctoral students as a part of the Infant Oral Care Program (IOCP), a 10 week course in which students learn to identify white spot lesions, understand social determinants of health and how to assist families in overcoming barriers, understand the role public health plays in pediatric dentistry, and appreciate the ethical responsibility of dental professionals for the oral health of the whole community. 

Course Competencies

• Describe caries development, progression, and pathophysiology
• Learn the fundamental concepts of oral health promotion and disease prevention at the individual and at the community level.
• Describe access to care issues and develop strategies for oral disease prevention at the individual and at the community level.
• Apply risk-based diagnosis and treatment planning
• Teach and mentor younger dental students in the areas of disease management & risk assessment through IOCP

Course Objectives

On successful completion of this course, residents will be able to:

• Understand why pregnancy provides a unique opportunity to provide oral health interventions for women and their infants.
• Realize the impact of maternal oral health on long-term oral disease status in families.
• Know the background and clinical evidence in support of perinatal and infant oral care.
• Be able to perform a caries risk assessment through the use of the CAMBRA tool for 0-5 and clinical exam results in a private practice or in a community based clinical environment.
• Identify dental products available for patient interventions and develop a treatment path to manage dental caries a patient based upon CAMBRA risk assessment protocols.
• Understand the benefits and challenges in creating buy-in from dental team members, and the influence of third-party payers on patient acceptance.
• Examine, diagnose, and treat very young children using an Infant Oral Care model.
• Effectively utilize Motivational Interviewing skills to elicit positive behavior change.
• Comprehend the barriers to access in care for lower income families,
• Deliver perinatal and infant/toddler oral health prevention and education, and
• Be able to offer dental practitioners information on a dental practice model in working with the youngest population of pediatric patients and to gain more in depth pediatric dental experience.
• Provide education and mentorship to pre-doctoral students in each of the following areas:
  • Assessing caries risk through the use of the CAMBRA tool and clinical exam results;
  • Examining, diagnosing, and treating young children;
  • Working in a community-based clinical environment;
  • Understanding the barriers to access in care for lower income families;
  • Delivering perinatal and infant/toddler oral health education, and
  • Understanding how to integrate infant oral care into standard care delivered by pediatricians.