2.2 Education and Reinforcement

Patients at High Risk

Oral health professionals need to tell patients at high risk for dental caries that they have an uncontrolled infection, explain the nature of the infection, and provide a customized strategy for bringing the infection under control and repairing damaged teeth. Education and reinforcement should be provided at all future dental appointments.

Every dental appointment is an opportunity to help patients understand the serious nature of their infection and to assess whether preventive strategies are working to eliminate or control the infection. This should be noted in the patient’s record. Preventive strategies should not be overlooked in favor of focusing solely on restorative treatment.

Oral health professionals should praise patients who are successfully maintaining their oral hygiene regimens. For patients who are not maintaining their oral hygiene regimens, oral health professionals should help them address the issues that have led to non-compliance.

For patients in this category, education and reinforcement will add about 5 to 10 minutes to the scheduled appointment time.

The recall interval for patients at high risk is every 3 to 12 months, depending on modifying factors. If oral health professionals successfully educate patients on the importance of optimal oral health and the role of prevention and treatment in achieving it, patients will be more apt to comply with preventive strategies and to agree to appropriate recall appointments.

Patients at Very High Risk

In addition to providing patients at very high risk for dental caries with comprehensive oral hygiene instruction, oral health professionals also need to inform these patients that they have an uncontrolled infection and are at high risk for losing teeth. Oral health professionals should emphasize the need to bring the infection under control before damaged teeth can be adequately restored.

As with patients at high risk, every dental appointment is an opportunity to help patients at very high risk understand the serious nature of their infection and to assess whether preventive strategies are working to eliminate or control the infection, and this should be noted in the patient’s record. Education and reinforcement will probably require more of the oral health professional’s time, compared with the amount of time spent for those at lower risk. Appointment times should be adjusted accordingly. The recall interval for patients at very high risk is every 3 to 6 months, depending on modifying factors.

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