GNYDM Symposium 2012 - Dentistry’s Dirty Little Secrets - What Is It That We Don’t Know
In this presentation we will uncover some of the hidden connections between a healthy and pain free patient and what issues 80% of adult patients present with. There are so many issues that patients suffer with that are dentally related but are totally missed because they don't know to talk to their dentists about them.
Patients with chronic pain and headaches... patients with numb finger tips... patients with lower back issues... there are 500 plus issues that can be related to the bite and in the average New Patient Exam the vast majority don't even come up. This presentation will discuss the variety of Signs and Symptoms that are quite often related to dental issues and help to create the base of conversation to help these patients to discover how to get help.
There are so many different things to focus on as a dentist and as a profession, we are actually quite young. The understanding of how the systems are interconnected is only now beginning to be understood. Concepts like 'hinge-axis of rotation' and 'seating the joint' simply aren't complete or accurate. In fact, as far back as 1911 the idea of toothbrush abrasion was dismissed, but these concepts still linger and cloud our vision. We will discuss a number of questions that generally are not even addressed by dentists in an exam, and how those things are related to critical concepts of occlusion and protection of the airway. The overlap of migraine and chronic pain as well as Obstructive Sleep Apnea should be as fundamental in a dental exam as probing depths. Join us as we walk through what will be the most rewarding world dentistry has opened for you!
Learning objectives:
- Illustration of many less obvious but quite serious dentally related symptoms
- Commonly found signs of bite disease and how this may affect the health of the patient
- Some simple screens that will help highlight patients whose lives can be greatly improved - and in some cases lives actually saved!!