“Building a Successful Prevention Strategy for High Risk Adults”

Course Description: Recent statistics still reveal that dental caries remains as one of the most prevalent but preventable diseases that affect patients of all ages, especially the older population. This program will guide participants in creating a successful protocol in their practice, which recognize those adult patients who are at greatest risk for dental and root caries. Implementing a team-built risk assessment guides the practice in both sound philosophy and treatment planning. By initiating open-ended questions during a dental and medical history, the clinician gains greater understanding of their patient’s past experience as well as their current lifestyle choices which impact the predisposition to this disease.

    • Identification of greatest risk factors that contribute to enamel and root caries

    • Recognition of salivary dysfunction and its direct effect on caries progression in young and older adults

    • Integrating minimally-invasive techniques to diagnose the stage of lesions

    • Comparing enamel erosion, demineralization and active carious lesions

    • Review the evidence in choosing best treatment for remineralization, dry mouth relief and dentinal hypersensitivity related to high risk for caries

Speaker: Lillian Caperila, RDH, BSDH, M.Ed. Lil Caperila celebrates her 41 st year as a licensed dental hygienist in Pennsylvania and a proud and active member of the American Dental Hygienists’ Association. Her career experience includes twenty years as a periodontal co-therapist, faculty instructor positions in three dental hygiene programs in the Philadelphia area, and during the past twenty years she has presented well over 600 seminars in the U.S. and Internationally serving in her role as professional educator for Premier Dental Products Company in Plymouth Meeting, PA. Lil is a widely-recognized ambassador of dental hygiene excellence among her peers and a proud recipient of the ADHA Irene Newman Award for Professional Achievement. In 2009, Lil was selected by her faculty mentor at Montgomery County Community College to be named to their elite Alumni Hall of Fame.