Caries Process and Prevention Strategies

This subject area, Caries Process and Prevention Strategies, comprises a series of ten continuing education courses that may be taken individually or as a complete series.  Procter & Gamble is delighted to have created these courses in partnership with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA), enabling high quality educational experiences and an up-to-date understanding of both the science and its relevance to clinical dental practice.

Through our partnership with ADEA, world-recognized educators and researchers from a wide range of institutions have been invited to contribute to this educational resource.  The ten courses created by the faculty are as follows:

1. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Epidemiology - This course gives an emphasis on the relevancy of oral epidemiology to clinical practice and presents trends in prevalence and incidence of caries in both the U.S. and world populations.
2. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies: The Agent - This course introduces the student to the caries process and the multi-factorial nature of the disease.  Dental plaque is presented as a microbial biofilm ecosystem.
3. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  The Host - This course introduces the student to the caries process and the role of the host.  The three host factors:  tooth, saliva, and the immune response, are introduced along with an explanation of their respective roles.
4. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies : The Environment - This course introduces the role of the oral environment as one of the causal factors.  The acidogenic and cariogenic potential of dietary carbohydrates is discussed along with clinical risk assessment.
5. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Demineralization/Remineralization - This course introduces the student to the caries process and the multi-factorial nature of the disease.  Dental plaque is presented as a microbial biofilm ecosystem.
6. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Diagnosis - This course introduces the student to the recognition and diagnosis of the caries lesion.  Conventional assessment tools used for diagnosis are detailed along with newer technologies.
7. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Erosion - This course introduces the concept of erosive tooth wear as a condition distinct from caries but that is emerging as a public health issue with increasing prevalence in all age-groups.  The factors that cause tooth wear are introduced along with diagnosis and preventive measures.
8. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Prevention - This course introduces the student to the caries process and the multi-factorial nature of the disease.  Dental plaque is presented as a microbial biofilm ecosystem.
9. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Intervention - This course introduces the student to the role of fluoride in the prevention of caries and includes water fluoridation, systemic fluoride supplementation, fluoride dentifrice and rinses, and professionally applied agents.
10. Caries Process and Prevention Strategies :  Risk Assessment - This course covers methods for assessing a patient’s risk for developing dental caries and provides a risk protocol for clinical adoption.

Through the Faculty Reporting Module, dental educators can select these and any other courses for assignment, distribute the assignment to their students, and track assessment scores and course completions.