Rates of natural tooth retention are increasing globally: rather than losing all their teeth as they age, patients are increasingly greeting old age with at least a few of their natural teeth still intact. Partial tooth loss can affect every aspect of life, from limiting the foods we can enjoy to undermining our self-confidence and affecting our relationships with others.

FDI’s Partially Dentate Patient Project aims to empower oral health professionals to understand and support the needs of their patients, improve their health outcomes, and increase global awareness about their treatment options and specific needs.

Resources for practitioners and patients alike

FDI has launched a series of tools that propose a tailored, comprehensive approach to treatment and care. These include the Collaborative Care Continuum: The 3Cs pathway for partially dentate patients white paper, as well as the Collaborative Care Continuum: Professional guidelines and the Collaborative Care Continuum: My oral health checklist. These resources support patient-practitioner communication and offer advice on managing this particular patient group.

Webcast

FDI also held a symposium at the ADA FDI World Dental Congress 2019 San Francisco on the contemporary management of partially dentate patients. The symposium focused on understanding the importance of pre-treatment assessment, evidence-based treatment options, and long-term post-treatment care. It also focused on the importance of a personalized patient assessment, how to manage risk factors and their impact on treatment outcomes, and highlighted the relevance of personalized maintenance programmes.

What’s next in 2020?

FDI and industry partner GSK will continue their collaboration and launch a second phase of the project. The main objective of Phase II will be to share and promote the project resources, raise awareness about the 3Cs Pathway, and map out the global state of collaborative care. Phase II will also seek to include recommendations and potential calls to action for optimal care for partially dentate patients.

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The Partially Dentate Patients Project aims to empower oral health professionals to understand and support the needs of their patients and improve their health outcomes.

Partially Dentate Patients Project