The FDI World Dental Federation has released resources for treating and caring for patients with partial tooth loss.
More people are keeping teeth as they age instead of losing all of them, FDI reports. These partially dentate patients have one or more missing teeth that are congenitally absent or have been extracted due to disease, trauma, or surgery.
FDI’s tools for offering these patients a tailored, comprehensive approach to treatment and care include the “Collaborative Care Continuum: The 3Cs Pathway for Partially Dental Patients” white paper.
Also, FDI offers guidelines designed for oral health professionals that support patient-practitioners communication and offer advice to manage patients who are partially dentate.
FDI notes that even partial tooth loss may limit the enjoyment of certain foods, undermine self-confidence, and lead to social isolation and affect relationships with others.
“Our work is focused on a personalized approach to managing partially dentate patients,” said FDI president Kathryn Kell, DDS. “We know that good patient-practitioner communication is linked not only to increased patient satisfaction, but also with better adherence to treatment.”
Caring for partially dentate patients follows a three-step process called to collaborative care continuum, or the 3Cs care pathway, which includes a pre-treatment and assessment phase, a treatment phase, and a post-treatment and long-term care phase.
Oral health professionals should place equal importance on each of these three phases and organize their treatment and care plan along this continuum, FDI says.
“We are excited to collaborate with FDI to improve the treatment and care for this unique group of patients,” said Dr. Roshan Varghese, global medical affairs director, denture care, and GSK.
“We believe that the most successful treatment relies on comprehensive patient education,” Varghese said. “A focus on long-term care and maintenance needs to become an integral part of any treatment for partially dentate patients.”
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