Dental Hygiene Winter Weekend

Session 1:  ““Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the Dental Professional” 

Friday, February 21, 2025

Sponsored By:

1:00-4:00pm

In this workshop, we will explore the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the dental field. The session will begin with an overview of AI and the generative AI tools, addressing common misuses, limitations, and potential risks. We will then shift focus to the benefits AI offers dental professionals, particularly dental hygienists, through innovative tools and technologies that streamline workflows, and improve patient care.

Objectives:

Presenter: Helen Crompton Ph.D

Dr. Helen Crompton is the Executive Director of the Research Institute for Digital Innovation in Learning at ODUGlobal, and Professor of Instructional Technology at Old Dominion University. She has published over 150 manuscripts on educational technology and is well recognized for her outstanding contributions, including a place on Stanford's list of the Top 2% of Scientists in the World. Dr. Crompton's expertise extends beyond academia to practice, as she frequently works with governments, and bilateral and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank, leveraging her knowledge and experience to drive meaningful change in the field of educational technology globally.

Session 2:  “Treating High Risk Patients: The Who, What and How and the Role we Play as Dental Hygienists” 

Friday, February 21, 2025

Sponsored By: Elevate Oral Care

5:00-8:00pm

Dental caries continues to be one of the most preventable chronic diseases facing our patients. Our high-risk patients’ range in age and medical conditions can increase and add to their risk. It is critical to identify our patient’s risk and to intervene with preventive measures before the disease process begins. Motivational interviewing and effective communication are important aspects to encouraging positive behavior changes to improve oral health. We will learn how to ask the best questions to address the needs of our patients and lower their risk for disease by engaging them in the process. This course will emphasize a patient-centered approach, focusing on comprehensive risk assessments, individualized preventive strategies, and minimally invasive treatment options.

Objectives:

1. Identify the common risk factors contributing to dental caries in high-risk patients.
2. Review CAMBRA and how risk assessment is critical in identifying opportunities for early prevention of dental disease.
3. Understand the unique needs of specific populations, including pediatrics, older adults, and medically compromised patients.
4. Explore the various individualized preventive strategies for high-risk patients, including in-office and at-home
5. Discuss effective communication and motivational interviewing and how these communication styles can impact the oral health of our patients and is critically important with our high-risk patients.

Presenter: Brooke Crouch, RDH

Brooke Crouch is a registered dental hygienist with over fourteen years of clinical experience, both in private practice and public health. She has provided mobile dentistry in both a school-based and nursing home setting and understands the challenges faced in accessing oral health care. As a high-risk patient herself, due to Sjogren’s Syndrome, she understands the need to be the patient’s advocate and to provide options based on a person’s risk for dental disease. Brooke is proud to serve as the Professional Education Specialist for Elevate Oral Care. She believes collaboration, innovation and prevention are necessary for increasing access to equitable care, reducing disease and improving oral health for all.

Saturday, February 22, 2025

Sponsored by:

Part I: 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

“Don’t Hit Snooze on Sleep Apnea - What Dental Hygienists Need to Know”

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an underdiagnosed epidemic affecting an estimated 22 million Americans, with 80% being undiagnosed, and is becoming more recognized in the dental profession. Dental hygienists have a key role in identifying the risk factors, characteristics, referrals and treatment options for OSA. The goal of this lecture is to identify the role of the dental hygienist in screening for OSA and to obtain knowledge of airway and dental sleep medicine to help educate patients.

Objectives:

• Define sleep related breathing disorders (SBD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
• Identify various systemic health conditions and risk factors correlated with OSA.
• Describe the oral signs and symptoms of OSA.
• Integrate different screening tools of OSA into the dental practice.
• Explore treatment options of OSA in dental sleep medicine.
   

Part II: 10:30 a.m. - Noon

“Where’s Your Tongue? The Importance of Dental Hygienists Understanding Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders” 

Currently, there is an outstanding number of children and adults suffering from issues that include sleep-disordered breathing, allergies, orofacial pain, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJD), periodontal disease, dental decay, craniofacial deficiencies, malocclusions, speech disorders, postural imbalances, ear problems, and learning disabilities. What if I told you where your tongue rests—specifically, how you breathe, chew, and swallow—has an impact on the aforementioned issues and more? In this lecture, we will explore the role of the dental hygienist in identifying orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMDs) and gain an understanding of how orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) can assist in correcting these disorders.

Objectives:

• Define Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (OMT). 
• List the four goals of OMT. 
• Identify Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMDs) and their impact on oral and systemic health.
• Compare and contrast nasal vs. mouth breathing and their oral and systemic health implications. 
• Implement chairside screening tools to assess the dental hygiene patient for OMDs.

Presenter: Elaina Grant, BSDH, RDH, QOM

Elaina Grant graduated Summa Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene (BSDH) from Old Dominion University. She is a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) and Qualified Orofacial Myologist (QOM). She currently holds many professional roles which include being a RDH at 2 different private dental practices in Loudoun County, VA (a general/cosmetic and periodontist office), an adjunct dental hygiene clinical faculty member for Laurel Ridge Community College, and a Myofunctional Therapist at a Speech and Myofunctional Therapy office in Ashburn, VA. She is passionate about the oral-systemic link, specifically airway related disorders and helping her patients sleep and breathe better.

Session 5:  “Let’s Give them Something to Talk About” How About the “Oral-Oral Link””

Sunday, February 23, 2025
 

Sponsored by:
 

9AM-Noon

The “oral-systemic link” is a critically important topic in dentistry today and with good reason, poor oral health and oral pathogens are known to have ill effects on systemic health. There is another conversation which is critically important, it’s what Susan calls the “oral-oral link.” A conversation about two persistent chronic infections that are risk factors for oral and oropharyngeal cancer. 

Evidence shows persistent oropharyngeal infections with oncogenic types of the Human Papillomavirus/HPV are associated with over 80% of Oropharyngeal cancers. Poor oral health/periodontitis is a known risk factor for oral cancer. Do our patients know this, are you having these conversations with your patients? This course will discuss periodontitis and its role as a risk factor for oral cancer, and will take a deep dive into HPV, discussion transmission, the HPV cancer vaccine, and testing for persistent HPV oropharyngeal infections. We will dive into The Cotton Method of screening, discussing the components of a comprehensive visual and tactile, extraoral, intraoral, evaluation. Attendees will expand their knowledge of HPV and components of a comprehensive head and neck evaluation, and gain strategies to share about HPV patients.

Objectives

1. Discuss the Human Papillomavirus, including the HPV cancer vaccine, and testing for persistent HPV oropharyngeal infections.
2. Describe the components of a comprehensive visual and tactile, extraoral, intraoral, evaluation, including Tonsil Grade.
3. Identify the anatomical structures of the oropharynx.
4. Gain and understanding of Periodontitis as a risk factor for oral cancer.

Presenter: Susan Cotten, BSDH, RDH, OMT

Susan Cotten is dentistry’s oral cancer coach! She is CEO of Oral Cancer Consulting, has performed over 60 thousand oral cancer screenings, and developed The Cotten Method of screening. Susan works with dental professionals who want to have more confidence when screening, reduce the risk of liability, and increase early detection.

Susan is the Dental Lead for the Alliance for HPV Free Colorado, a 2018 Sunstar RDH Award of Distinction recipient, and recipient of the Ethel Covington award and Outstanding Contribution award from Colorado Dental Hygienists’ Association. She is an RDH Advisory Board member with the Oral Cancer Foundation, and an instructor at National Network of Healthcare Hygienists. She has organized countless free oral cancer screening events and volunteered with a head and neck oncology surgeon providing free screenings to the homeless. On a personal note, Susan loves walking the beaches of Hawaii, watching college football and is a former country dance competitor.