Therapeutic patient education in dental practice: For a pedagogical commitment / Du concept d'éducation thérapeutique du patient à la pratique des chirurgiens-dentistes : pour un engagement pédagogique

The exponential development of chronic noncommunicable diseases requires a rethinking of health systems, which are commonly focused on the curative management of diseases. There is a need to reinvent them to involve lifelong health promotion. For patients, it is no longer just a matter of surviving an acute disease, but also of avoiding its occurrence, and even more often, learning to live and age with it. This is where therapeutic patient education (TPE) plays a role. Supporting this paradigm shift in practice requires a commitment through initial training to help the student­ future dentist­to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes relevant and easily applicable to the field of oral medicine, even in independent practice. Integrating TPE teaching into the curriculum is undeniably a challenge, but also a chance for students to develop a different stance and become conscious, competent, and committed professionals.

Le développement exponentiel des maladies non transmissibles à caractère chronique oblige à repenser les systèmes de santé, communément centrés sur une prise en charge curative des maladies. Ils doivent se réinventer pour y associer la promotion de la santé tout au long de la vie. Pour les patients, il ne s'agit plus seulement de survivre à une maladie aiguë, mais aussi d'en éviter la survenue, et encore plus souvent d'apprendre à vivre et à vieillir avec celle-ci. La prévention et la stabilisation de nombreuses maladies bucco-dentaires requièrent l'adoption et le maintien tout au long de la vie de comportements adaptés. L'éducation thérapeutique du patient (ETP) trouve alors toute sa place. Soutenir ce changement de paradigme dans les pratiques nécessite de s'engager dans la formation initiale pour aider l'étudiant ­ futur chirurgien-dentiste ­ à acquérir des connaissances, des savoir-faire et savoir-être pertinents et facilement applicables dans le champ de la médecine bucco-dentaire, et ce, même en pratique libérale. Intégrer l'enseignement de l'ETP au curriculum constitue indéniablement un défi, mais aussi une chance pour les étudiants de développer une autre posture et de devenir des professionnels conscients, compétents et engagés.

Child oral health: A plea for interdisciplinarity / La santé orale de l'enfant : un plaidoyer pour l'interdisciplinarité

A child's oral health has major implications both for their general health and for their quality of life. Even before birth, the mother's oral health can affect the development of the baby and pregnancy outcomes. From the very first months of life, feeding habits together with non-nutritive sucking ones, early transmission of pathogenic bacteria, and oral hygiene practices prefigure the child's future health. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of our current knowledge regarding the main oral health issues affecting children, namely dental caries, erosive tooth wear, developmental defects of enamel, maxillofacial growth anomalies, and traumatic dental injuries. Additionally, it aims to examine the oral health prevention and promotion programs that have been implemented in France over several decades. These prevention and promotion initiatives are not only part of a national program but are also being organized at a territorial level, although, unfortunately, they often remain limited to regional, departmental, or municipal scopes. It is essential for all those involved with children, whether they are health care professionals or not, to collaborate effectively to enhance both oral health and overall well-being. This requires fostering an interdisciplinary approach that involves various contributors working together in a complementary way.

La santé orale de l'enfant est d'un enjeu majeur, tant pour sa santé en général que pour sa qualité de vie. Avant même sa naissance, la santé orale de la mère impacte le développement du bébé et l'issue de la grossesse. Dès les tout premiers mois de vie, le mode d'alimentation, les habitudes de succion non nutritives, la transmission précoce de bactéries pathogènes et les pratiques d'hygiène orale préfigurent la future santé de l'enfant. L'objectif de cet article est de faire une synthèse des connaissances sur les principales affections bucco-dentaires chez l'enfant que sont la maladie carieuse, l'usure érosive, les défauts de minéralisation, les anomalies de croissance maxillo-faciale et les traumatismes dentaires et de s'interroger sur les programmes de prévention et de promotion de la santé en santé orale en France depuis plusieurs décennies. Des initiatives de prévention et de promotion de la santé orale s'organisent (en complément du programme national), dans une déclinaison territoriale, encore trop souvent seulement régionale, départementale ou municipale. Ainsi, ce sont tous les acteurs autour de l'enfant, professionnels de la santé ou non, qui doivent s'engager, ensemble, pour améliorer sa santé orale et sa santé en général et c'est tout une culture interdisciplinaire qui doit se développer autour d'une pluralité d'acteurs qui pourraient agir et collaborer, en toute complémentarité.

Oral health, a public health issue in 2023: Reflections and actions of the ASPBD / La santé orale, un enjeu de santé publique en 2023 ­ Réflexions et actions de l'ASPBD

The first Dental Public Health Day, in 2001, was not only the starting point for the creation of the Association des Acteurs de la Santé Publique Bucco-Dentaire (ASPBD), but also for the recognition of this specialty in France, even though it had already been recognized by the American Dental Association as early as 1950. Every year, the ASPBD organizes a national oral health day. The ASPBD brings together the vast majority of French odontologists and academic researchers in the field, as well as other French-speaking academics. Throughout the year, we work to bring together the dental and non-dental worlds, mainly the institutional and non-profit sectors with users, freelancers, and employees, the World Health Organization, and the French Public Health Society. This is in keeping with the partnership approach taken by the association for the past twenty-two years. Our aim is to bring together all the actors concerned to work toward integrating oral health into all health policies and health promotion and prevention schemes. We believe it is vital to provide oral health training for medical and paramedical staff, as well as for those working in education and outreach. Likewise, we are working to ensure that prevention is organized on a territorial level, involving local people as closely as possible and focusing on their needs. This is why we are actively involved in the fight against social and territorial inequalities in health, oral health being a strong indicator of these inequalities.

La première Journée de santé publique dentaire, en 2001, a été non seulement le point de départ de la création de l'association des Acteurs de la santé publique bucco-dentaire (ASPBD), mais aussi celui de l'identification en France de cette spécialité, alors qu'elle était déjà reconnue comme telle par l'Association dentaire américaine dès 1950. L'ASPBD organise, depuis annuellement une journée nationale de santé publique bucco-dentaire. L'ASPBD rassemble la grande majorité des odontologistes, enseignants-chercheurs hospitalo-universitaires français, mais aussi les autres hospitalo-universitaires francophones. Nous œuvrons tout au long de l'année à faire travailler ensemble le dentaire et le non-dentaire, principalement le monde institutionnel et associatif avec les usagers, les libéraux et les salariés, l'Organisation mondiale de la santé et la Société française de santé publique. À l'image du binôme qui préside chacune de nos journées depuis vingt-deux ans. Notre association a pour vocation de rassembler tous les acteurs concernés pour œuvrer à l'intégration de la santé orale dans toutes les politiques de santé et dispositifs de promotion de la santé et de prévention. Nous pensons qu'il est indispensable de former à la santé orale tant les personnels médicaux et paramédicaux que ceux de l'éducation et de l'animation. De même, nous agissons pour que la prévention s'organise à l'échelon territorial, au plus près des populations en fonction de leurs besoins. C'est le sens de notre participation active à la lutte contre les inégalités sociales et territoriales de santé, la santé orale étant un marqueur fort d'inégalités sociales de santé.

[An illustrated guide to dental screening: a school survey]. / Support photographique et dépistage bucco-dentaire?: étude en milieu scolaire.

AIM: Marked social inequalities in oral health are observed right from early childhood. A mandatory complete health check-up, including dental screening, is organized at school for 6-year-old children. School healthcare professionals are not well trained in dental health. The aim of this study was to assess the relevance of an illustrated guide as a simple and rapid dental screening training tool in order to ensure effective, standardized and reproducible screening. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the context of the dental examination performed as part of the health check-up. Two examiners (Doctor E1 and Nurse E2) were trained in dental screening by means of the illustrated guide. This reference guide, comprising pictures and legends, presents the main oral pathology observed in children. RESULTS: 109 consent forms for oral screening were delivered, and 102 children agreed to participate (93.57%). The sensitivity of detection of tooth decay by examiners E1 and E2 was 81.48% with a specificity of 96%. No correlation was observed between the child's age (+/- 6 years) and correct detection rates. CONCLUSIONS: The illustrated guide is an appropriate and rapid tool for dental screening that can improve the quality of dental check-up and increase the number of children detected.

Engaging student analysis of the practitioner-patient relationship assessed with reflective outcomes.

The representations and beliefs of both patient and practitioner influence the relationship that develops between them. We developed an innovative, interactive teaching tool in two stages (1- interviews with the patient or healthcare practitioner and 2- a session with sharing of the patient's and practitioner's perspective) whose objectives are to recognize the basic characteristics of PPR and identify how it can be influenced by expectations, beliefs and emotions. This pedagogical device was particularly appreciated by the students, as it enabled them to identify the importance of the patient's point of view and to reflect on their future professional identity.

Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Literacy of Pregnant Women: A Scoping Review.

PURPOSE: Pregnancy is a state particularly sensitive to oral pathologies (periodontal and decay). The oral health status of pregnant women can have an impact on the outcome of the pregnancy and the oral health of the child to come. As in the general population, the oral health of pregnant women is socially determined and dependent on psychosocial factors, including factors related to health behaviours. Research into the determinants of oral health in pregnant women will allow a better understanding of the mechanisms of action specific to this period of perinatality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The methodology of a scoping review was selected with the objective of investigating the contribution of knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP) and oral health literacy on pregnant women's oral health. RESULTS: Of the 67 articles selected, 52 studied the 'knowledge' component, 27 the 'attitude' (including the perception and beliefs concerning health), and 54 the 'practice' component, while 6 articles examined literacy. The KAP components were studied in relation to socioeconomic determinants, oral health status, healthcare utilisation and oral health literacy. The level of oral health literacy of pregnant women is strongly related to their living environment and socioprofessional level which influences their attitudes and practices. Woman's oral health practices before pregnancy can be a predictor of her practices during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: The complex nature of the attitude component (locus of control, sense of self-efficacy, perceived importance) is little discussed. The heterogeneity and exhaustiveness of topics related to KAP raises the question of how to more accurately assess KAP in pregnant women in a valid, reproducible, and transferable manner and the need to build a structured oral health consensus body of work. This review is a first step towards identifying the psychosocial factors that are essential for developing a model of educational intervention in oral health that combines the process of behavioural change and decision making while taking into account the concept of empowerment, and with the aim of reducing social inequalities in health.

Implementation of a Medical Ethics Course in Undergraduate Dental Education and Assessment of Knowledge and Attitudes.

OBJECTIVES: A medical ethics course was launched in 2012 in a French University Dental School. We compared knowledge and attitudes, before and after implementation of that course. The aim of this study was to compare students who received an ethics course (third year) to those who did not have such training, however, most of them did have some clinical traineeship. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to the second-, third-, and sixth-year students. It comprised questions with Likert item format answers and clinical vignettes with open responses. The results were analyzed by two approaches: a statistical analysis (chi-square or Fischer exact tests) and a content analysis using a predefined grid. RESULTS: A total of 299 respondents replied (75% students) the questionnaire. The analysis showed a statistically significant association between knowledge of the law and information procedures (P < 0.0001), access to medical files (P = 0.004), and recording consent (P = 0.049). It was also significant between knowledge of the law and the principles of biomedical ethics (P < 0.0001 for autonomy and beneficence). The third-year students could state the principles of medical ethics with their percentage always greater than the sixth-year students. After the third year, the students' attitudes switched from a social to a medical emphasis, and their point of view regarding patient's autonomy evolved. Patient's refusal of care raised potential conflicts between autonomy, professional judgment, information, and consent. CONCLUSION: Ethics teaching could offer a way to turn positive attitudes into real competencies and should be considered at an early stage.

[Improving the physician-dental surgeon relationship to improve patient care]. / La relation médecin/chirurgien-dentiste doit être améliorée pour une meilleure prise en charge des patients Enquête au sein d'un réseau de santé.

AIMS: This study had two aims: to assess the nature of the relationship between general practitioners (GPs) and dental surgeons in relation to patient care and to evaluate qualitatively their interest in the changes that health networks and shared patient medical files could bring. METHODS: Questionnaires were completed by 12 GPs belonging to ASDES, a private practitioner-hospital health network that seeks to promote a partnership between physicians and dental surgeons, and by 13 private dental surgeons in the network catchment area. RESULTS: The GPs and dentists had quite different perceptions of their relationship. Most dentists rated their relationship with GPs as "good" to "excellent" and did not wish to modify it, while GPs rated their relationship with dentists as nonexistent and expressed a desire to change the situation. Some GPs and some dentists supported data exchange by sharing personal medical files through the network. CONCLUSION: Many obstacles hinder communication between GPs and dentists. There is insufficient coordination between professionals. Health professionals must be made aware of how changes in the health care system (health networks, personal medical files, etc) can help to provide patients with optimal care. Technical innovations in medicine will not be beneficial to patients unless medical education and training begins to include interdisciplinary and holistic approaches to health care and preventive care.