DIET AND NUTRITION IN ORAL HEALTH

Dentistry today is changing to meet the needs of a changing population. Life expectencies continue to increase, and the nature and demographics or oral diseases are changing. Associated oral conditions such as coronal caries, root caries, periodontal disease, endentulism, cancer, AIDS, and all oral infections, all have nutritional implications. The American Dental Association and the American Dental Hygienists' Association recommend that dental professionals "maintain current knowledge of nutrition recommendations as they relate to general and oral health and disease", and "effectively educate and counsel their patients about proper nutrition and oral health". This book can serve as a quick reference and/or as a clinical manual to enable you to answer patient questions and to integrate nutrition into clinical practice as comfortably as you would fluoride and other preventive modalities. This book can also be used as a text, by reading the chapters and answering the questions posed in case studies to test understanding. For diet screening and guidance the book can also be used as a "how-to" manual. Finally, the book can be used as a reference, by referring to those chapters relating to specific nutrition topics, life cycle groups, or health-related conditions, and referring to the last chapter and the appendic for helpful resources.