Home Oral Care
ADA home oral care recommendations are based on data from clinical studies and systematic reviews. While general recommendations may adequately address the needs for many patients, a dentist may tailor home oral care recommendations to fit the individual patient’s needs and wants, focusing on a personalized approach to treatment and prevention. Home oral care is an important contributor to oral health and can help lessen the need for extensive dental intervention in the future.
Dental care includes actions to reduce disease risk, as well as the formulation and execution of a treatment plan when disease is present. While generalized recommendations for home oral care may be appropriate to help optimize oral wellness for many patients, those found to be at elevated risk of caries and/or gingivitis, may ask their dentists to provide guidance on additional action steps that they can take to reduce their risk of oral disease. To help address this reality, the ADA recommends that dentists:
- Design a home care regimen with specific recommendations for oral hygiene. This may involve consideration of not only the person’s individual oral disease risk but the needs and wants of the patient.
- Offer direction concerning lifestyle changes (this is addressed in the next section, entitled “Lifestyle Considerations”).
- Provide guidance on dental products and mechanical devices. This includes detailed suggestions that can help patients make decisions about dental hygiene practices and products. Patients may look to their dentists for guidance and recommendations to help discern among the plethora of home oral care products and mechanical devices that lay claim to oral health benefit. Dentists and patients can look to the ADA Seal of Acceptance program as a source of validated information regarding the safety and efficacy of many home oral care products.