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’.

It is available to view online free of charge, however you will need to log in or register an account. College members can also download the publication for personal use, and have access to search, text-select and print functionality. Membership is available from £125 per year for dentists, from £83 for other dental professionals, and from £42 for Dental Nurses and those eligible for a concession.

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’.

• The Impact of Dementia on Oral Health and Dental Care, Part 1: Setting the Scene for Dental Care Provision by Kathryn Kerr, Charlotte Curl, Andrew Geddis-Regan (July 2020)

• The Impact of Dementia on Oral Health and Dental Care, Part 2: Approaching and Planning Treatment by Andrew Geddis-Regan, Kathryn Kerr, Charlotte Curl (July 2020)

• Dental Management of Patients with Dementia in Primary Dental Care by Sukina Moosajee, Sobia Rafique, Blánaid Daly (July 2020)

• Dementia-Friendly Dentistry: Why Dementia Guidelines? (December 2017)

• Challenges to Oral Health Care for Older People in Domiciliary Settings in the Next 20 Years: A General Dental Practitioner’s Perspective by Joseph Sullivan (July 2012)

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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