Dementia-friendly dentistry

Dementia-Friendly Dentistry: Good Practice Guidelines enables dental professionals to understand dementia and its implications for dental practice, and adapt their patient management and clinical decisions accordingly.

It has been estimated that around 5% of the UK population are living with dementia, and Dementia-Friendly Dentistry offers guidance on how to care for this significant patient group, including:

  • The epidemiology and diagnosis of dementia, and its implications for dental professionals.
  • Principles of care management, including patient identification, competence and referrals, communication, consent and capacity.
  • Clinical care, including history taking, treatment planning, care delivery and prescribing.
  • Site-specific considerations for dental practices, care homes and domiciliary care.

It also signposts readers to local support, educational programmes and resources for patients, and contains over 50 recommendations for practitioners, categorised as ‘basic’, ‘aspirational’ or ‘conditional’.

Related articles

CGDent members can view full articles via the links below by first visiting the PDJ Member Access page and clicking ‘Access the PDJ Archive’.

Non-members who wish to read one of these papers, or other Primary Dental Journal articles, have the option to join the College or subscribe to the PDJ.

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