BE ONE STEP AHEAD WITH PREVENTION – the Colgate symposium at Europerio 9 showcases the clear, actionable guidelines from the Perio & Caries initiative.

A recent symposium supported by Colgate-Palmolive Europe at Europerio 9 and attended by over 600 people, presented the recommendations of Perio & Caries, a Europe-wide initiative driven by the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP). Perio & Caries aims to apply the latest evidence-based guidelines to approach a joint management of caries and periodontal diseases – both at individual and at population level.

During Colgate’s symposium entitled BE ONE STEP AHEAD WITH PREVENTION – Perio & Caries – From consensus guidelines to clinical practice implementation, Professor Mariano Sanz (Complutense University of Madrid) presented a wealth of materials from the campaign, like hands-on recommendations to the oral care team, non-dental healthcare professionals, the public and policymakers, as well as video-interviews with experts and compelling info graphics, on how to jointly and effectively manage caries and periodontal diseases. These can all be found at http://www.efp.org/publications/projects/perioandcaries/

The Perio & Caries initiative calls for caries and periodontal disease to no longer to be considered ‘normal’, given their links with other general conditions, their impact in the individual’s quality of life and the burden they bring over healthcare costs. It also recommends that dental care professionals take a joint management approach focused on patient support for increased awareness and healthy behavior adoption, dietary advice, and twice-daily brushing with fluoride toothpaste, supported by plaque-reduction agents. Colgate provided EFP with an unrestricted grant for the Perio & Caries project.

“This collaborative approach between EFP and Colgate has the potential to bring a step-change in improving dental care and consequently patients’ general health and quality of life,” said symposium chair, Prof. Sanz. “We now understand how to jointly prevent caries and periodontal disease and the cutting-edge communications materials we have developed with Colgate’s support will be invaluable in ensuring that the Perio & Caries recommendations are implemented by dental and medical professionals, patients, and the general public.”

In addition to Prof. Sanz’s presentation:

• Prof. David Herrera (also from the Complutense University of Madrid) discussed the boundaries between caries and periodontal diseases and the science informing the evidence-based recommendations of Perio & Caries.
• Paul Brocklehurst – Professor of the North Wales Organisation for Randomised Trials in Health, UK talked about the importance of evidence-based guidelines and the journey of translating guidelines into practice.