Dental and Periodontal Care at the Bedside Using a Portable Dental Unit in Hospitalized Special Needs Patients: The Experience of an Italian Pediatric Hospital

Oral health education strategies for patients living with cardiovascular disease within hospital settings: a scoping review

Objective

To identify and describe the impact of current oral health education programmes provided to patients in cardiology hospital wards and outpatient clinics.

Methods

This review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis for Scoping Reviews statement. Searches were conducted using electronic databases: Cochrane, Medline, and Scopus, as well as grey literature searching.

Results

Three eligible studies were identified. All included studies reported generalised poor oral health in their participants at baseline, with significant improvement at follow-up. They all reported significant reductions in plaque deposits and gingival bleeding. One study reported significantly less bacteria on participant tongues, as well as fewer days with post-operative atrial fibrillation in the intervention group. Furthermore, in this study, one patient in the intervention group developed pneumonia, whilst four patients in the control group did.

Conclusion

Oral health education for patients with cardiovascular disease is limited and many have poor oral health. Educational programmes to improve oral health behaviours in patients with cardiovascular disease can improve both oral and general health outcomes.

Implications for public health

Oral disease is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Integrating oral health education into cardiology hospital settings is a simple strategy to improve access to oral health information and improve both oral and cardiovascular outcomes.

Multidisciplinary team for patients with neurocutaneous syndromes: The little discussed importance of dentistry

Neurocutaneous syndromes comprise a heterogeneous group of congenital or hereditary conditions that are known to be associated with the risk of different disorders and complications. Two of the most common neurocutaneous syndromes are Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). Although there appears to be a general consensus on the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in managing these cases, there is still very little emphasis in discussions addressed in the literature on the role of dentistry in accordance with the perspective of comprehensive care. Evidence-based propositions, together with a broad discussion of new insights in this regard, should have the ability to strongly impact related future perspectives, aiming for greater advances and better outcomes for these patients. In this review article, the authors discuss updated general aspects of NF1 and TSC, and the potential additional roles of dentistry, in addition to addressing suggestions for actions in dentistry at related levels of care, as well as priorities for future research.