Tales the Mouth Tells: Rethinking Our Role For the 21st Century

Presented by: Barbara Tritz, RDH, BS, MSB

Original Presentation Date: August 24, 2020

Course Description:

Oral health care transcends traditional procedures of drilling, filling, and polishing teeth. This course delves into the multifaceted dimensions of oral care, emphasizing the imperative to safeguard patients against pathogens, combat infections, and address structural deterioration within facial anatomy. Through the lens of a biological dental hygienist, this course examines the array of tools, methodologies, and established protocols essential for preventing, managing, and diagnosing dental diseases. Special attention is given to contemporary measures for ensuring office and patient safety amid the COVID-19 era, alongside comprehensive discussions on the advantageous aspects of nasal breathing, the correlation between gut health and oral well-being, and distinct techniques and products for managing caries and periodontal ailments. Central to this exploration is adopting a biological philosophy, offering potential insights into the fundamental origins of dental diseases.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply three preprocedural protocols to reduce the dental aerosol bioburden, employing higher-order infection control strategies.
• Analyze the physiological advantages of nasal breathing, considering its impact on oral health.
• Evaluate the dental complications stemming from dysfunctional breathing patterns, emphasizing their significance within oral health discourse.
• Examine and classify five primary root causes contributing to the onset and progression of dental diseases.
• Formulate and elucidate on established protocols to mitigate the dental bioburden, employing a comprehensive approach to disease prevention.
• Assess and identify three healthcare professionals integral to collaborative patient treatment planning within the realm of oral health care, emphasizing interdisciplinary cooperation for comprehensive patient care strategies.

Speaker Bio:

Barbara K. Tritz, RDH, BS, MSB, is a registered dental hygienist with over 40 years of clinical experience. She practices in the office of Green City Dental in Edmonds, WA. She also owns Washington Oral Wellness in Kirkland, WA, and is a practicing Orofacial Myofunctional Therapist. Barbara received her Associate of Science degree in Dental Hygiene from Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY, a Bachelor of Science in Dental Auxiliary Teacher Education from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a Master of Science in Business from Husson University in Bangor, Maine. She continued her training in Myofunctional Therapy at the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy in Los Angeles. Barbara's passion for dentistry spilled over into creating a blog, Queen of Dental Hygiene.net. She won the 2019 Hufriedy-ADHA Master Clinician Award this past June at the annual ADHA Conference in Louisville, KY.