Oral Health Assessment

Question 1

The two main purposes

Answer 1

Prevention of disease by regular opportunities to reinforce oral health education messages
Early detection + diagnosis when disease is already present

Question 2

If a disease is already present

Answer 2

regular assessment will detect at an early stage + allow trt so full recovery is more likely. If serious + potentially life threatening, (oral cancer) regular inspection will identify it earlier + allow pt to be referred for urgent specialist care, with better chance of successful trt + recovery

Question 3

The oral health assessment also looks for

Answer 3

dental caries, chronic gingivitis + chronic periodontal disease

Question 4

Dentist

Answer 4

makes the initial diagnosis, formulates a trt plan + carries out all trt restricted to dentist only

Question 5

Hygienist

Answer 5

works under prescription of dentist to carry out scaling + OH instruction

Question 6

Therapist

Answer 6

works under prescription of dentist to carry out suitable trts as necessary

Question 7

Dental nurse

Answer 7

assits dentist during assessment by accurately recording all info as necessary; assists dental team while treating pt + reinforces all oral hygiene messages given to pt.

Question 8

The assessment of OH is carried out in the following areas:

Answer 8

Extra oral soft tissues
Intra oral soft tissues
Periodontal tissues
Occlusion 
Deciduous + mixed dentition of children 
Permanent dentition