Prophylaxis: Today’s big thing
Prophylaxis and oral hygiene, efficient aftercare measures, and specialisation for dental surgeries are the focuses of IDS 2009.
Prophylaxis is increasingly shifting centre-stage in dental surgeries because health has never been so important to today’s ageing population. Offering ways for people to ensure oral hygiene at home is growing continually and represents an important pillar of prevention.
An increasingly older population needs suitable prophylactics in both the dental and domestic areas for all age groups and individual needs. To cater to this growing demand, the dental industry has developed instruments, complete systems and concepts to optimise prevention in the domestic and professional domains.
Plaque control through daily oral hygiene at home is the foundation of prophylaxis and is now performed with extremely functional and ergonomically designed resources, including modern manual toothbrushes as well as technically perfected electric models, some with extras such as external displays and other user aids. Various accessories extend their areas of use.
Keeping natural teeth a for a lifetime is not possible without the help of a dentist. Besides oral hygiene at home, professional prophylaxis is necessary to avoid problems with caries and gingivitis. In this area the development of an individual prophylactic concept suited to the patient’s age is centre stage in preserving oral health.
Preventive measures such as professional dental cleaning and minimally invasive ultrasound-supported periodontal treatment and retention therapy as performed by dentists or specialised dental hygiene assistants are of central importance, so much so that the dental industry now offers complete treatment systems. All in all, supporting antibacterial prevention can be achieved to benefit in particular patients with a raised risk of caries, insufficient oral hygiene or a great deal of restoration work, as well as in orthodontic treatment, in aftercare of implants or other dental measures decisive to the overall success of treatment.
Highly developed diagnostics are also important for successful prophylaxis. Nowadays, modern imaging techniques are used in dental practices, including high-resolution intraoral cameras, camera-supported fluorescence methods and digital X-ray systems. Some manufacturers also offer diagnostics systems based on molecular biology that can analyse oral germ spectra.
Dentists in their role as managers are primarily concerned with developing a competent and motivated prophylactic team in their surgeries, and with the support of first-class cutting-edge technology to make clear to patients the benefits of consistent and professional prophylaxis. The results from this are in turn a great potential for specialisation for the surgery as patient interest in this area is huge.
How these measures and opportunities for specialisation come into play in a surgery’s daily routine will be made clear by the specialists and many prestigious dental companies presenting their solutions at IDS Cologne (24 to 28 March 2009).
At the world’s largest dental medicine and technology trade show in Cologne from 24 to 28 March 2009, dentists and their assistants will have an ideal opportunity to talk in detail to specialists from exhibitor firms and experienced users about the whole spectrum of modern prophylactic concepts and current trends in preventing infection and oral hygiene, says Dr. Markus Heibach, president of the German Dental Industry Federation.
IDS takes place in Cologne every two years and is organized by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Frderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.
