Time to put our money where your mouth is: Economist Impact launch white paper on inequalities in oral health

Oral diseases are the most prevalent human diseases.The economic burden of periodontitis and caries far exceeds the costs of any other non-communicable diseases.The most deprived bear the highest costs of inadequate prevention.A levelling up approach could reduce per-person lifetime care costs in the most deprived group by $17,728 in the UK, with savings three-fold higher in the most deprived versus the second-most deprived group in all countries

European Federation of Periodontology Survey of Postgraduate and Specialist Training in Europe in 2020:Periodontal specialist training in Europe

AIMS: The survey's aim was to establish which universities and other educational organisations deliver postgraduate and specialist training in Periodontology in the 31 countries who are members of the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) and to obtain details of how these programmes are organised, funded, regulated and evaluated. METHODS: A questionnaire and covering letter were emailed to all national periodontal societies. The questions were on the name of country, official recognition, training programmes, entry to specialist training, specialist training assessment and recognition after completion of training. RESULTS: Twenty‐nine (93%) of national periodontal societies responded. Key findings included the following: Periodontology was reported as being recognised at a national level in 17 countries, there was a three‐year full‐time programme in 12 countries, no fees were charged for specialist training in 10 countries, in 14 countries trainees received annual salaries, end of training (summative) assessments varied from country to country, 12 countries reported that they had a requirement for specialists in Periodontology to complete continuing education to maintain registration as specialists. CONCLUSIONS: This survey has established which universities and other educational organisations deliver postgraduate and specialist training in Periodontology and how these programmes are organised, funded, regulated and evaluated. To provide uniformly high‐quality periodontal care for patients in all European countries, further harmonisation of postgraduate and specialty training in Periodontology would be advantageous

A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of personalised oral hygiene advice delivered via video technology

Objectives To determine whether video-technology oral hygiene advice (OHA) improved clinical plaque and bleeding on probing (BOP) scores in individuals diagnosed with gingivitis, compared to conventional OHA after 3-months.MethodsThis parallel, randomised 2-arm treatment, single-centre study, assessed Turesky Plaque Index (TPI) and BOP at baseline and 3-months in adult participants with mild-moderate gingivitis. Eligible participants with smartphones were randomised at baseline to intervention (tailored video OHA), or control (conventional OHA). Oral hygiene (OH) habits/attitudes were recorded with a questionnaire. All participants used a manual toothbrush with anti-gingivitis toothpaste twice daily.Results57 participants completed the study. Both groups had improved gingival health (BOP) after 3-months, change from baseline being significantly greater in the intervention group (12.21% vs 6.80%, p&lt;0.05). TPI scores decreased more in the intervention than control group, but the difference did not reach significance (1.15 vs 0.92, p=0.079). OH habits and attitudes were similar at baseline and few differences between the groups were observed after 3-months, however frequency of interdental brush use was significantly increased, while self-rated oral health was significantly decreased in the intervention as compared to control group at this timepoint (p&lt;0.05). ConclusionsThe combination of an individually tailored instructional video with appropriate toothbrushing using anti-gingivitis toothpaste and interdental brush, significantly improved participants’ gingival health over 3-months compared to brushing with an anti-gingivitis toothpaste with conventional OHA as delivered in the general dental services. This study demonstrates the benefit of changing OH behaviour and delivering OHA using an individually tailored approach with contemporary methodology.Clinical SignificanceOHA is usually verbally delivered over short time periods. This study demonstrates video technology with individualised OHA improves OH adherence and empowers individuals, the recipient receiving personal visual cues with ability to replay advice and technique reiteration. This real-world technology could be better utilised in general dental practice. <br/