SPECIAL NEEDS
Time: 10:30am - 12:00pm
Topic: Managing Dental Care for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Speaker: Dr James Lucas
Dental treatments for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represents a challenge for dental professionals and as a result, children with ASD sometimes experience unmet health care needs. The treatment plans for children with ASD, are determined by the type of autism spectrum disorder, clinician/patient communication, parental support, self-help skills and the degree of patient cooperation.
Dr James Lucas is one of the leading paediatric dental specialists in Australia. He has extensive experience in Australia and internationally in the management of medically compromised children including ASD. Join Dr James Lucas for this vital lecture giving clinicians an understanding of ASD and how to best care for ASD children in your practice.
Children with ASD sometimes demonstrate limitations in verbal and/or non-verbal communication, have little interest and engage in limited activity, demonstrate repetitive behaviour often triggered by stress or certain stimuli. ASD children also tend to like routine and have a low frustration threshold which can sometimes result in tantrums. Audio, tactile hypersensitivity, excessive reaction to light and odour are also some of the main characteristics of children with ASD, environmental factors that can be found in a dental surgery.
The aim of this lecture is to provide you with treatment plans and tools to assist children with ASDs including:
- Understanding what is ASD and the different levels of care required
- How clinicians can be involved in forming guidelines for individuals with disabilities
- Treatment plans with the support of parents/caregivers and the importance of establishing a routine
- The use of visual supports and music
- Should anaesthesia be used on ASD patients?
- The safety of both the patient and dental care team
- Dr James Lucas will also discuss his personal treatment cases and how knowledge of disabilities may add to professional and community guidelines.
Approximately 1 in 54 children are diagnosed with ASD, it’s vital as dental professionals that we understand how best to treat them.
Dr James Lucas is one of the leading paediatric dental specialists in Australia.
He has extensive experience in the world of paediatric dentistry and has been a consultant and Deputy Director of the Dental Department at the Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne and has acted as an examiner for postgraduate training throughout Australia. In addition, Dr Lucas was co-lead for establishing the International Dental Health Guidelines for individuals with Epidermolysis Bullosa, a rare disorder with dental issues.
James has lectured extensively both in Australia and internationally and his areas of expertise are the management of dental trauma and the management of medically compromised children. He has published a number of research papers and book chapters and has also co-authored a children’s book about dentistry.
James was a visiting consultant to the National Hospital of Odontostomatolgy in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for 10 years where he was involved in education and a project in the evaluation and treatment of children suffering with cleft lip and palate in Southern Vietnam.He has been President of the Australasian Academy of Paediatric Dentistry and also the Australian and New Zealand Society of Paediatric Dentistry. In 2019 he was awarded the honour of being made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to Paediatric Dentistry and the dental community.
Time: 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Topic: Understanding Medications in Dentistry – What all Dental Professionals Must Know!
Speaker: Dr Geraldine Moses
Approximately 50% of commonly used medicines can negatively impact on dental procedures. Unfortunately, oral health professionals have received little training in perioperative medicines management. As a result, there is a tendency to focus on the famous drugs such as bisphosphonates and anticoagulants, rely on memorised protocols and seek advice from general medical practitioners, who don’t have much training either. For the benefit of the patient and the oral health professional, there are many ways in which this process can be improved.
In this lecture and Q&A session, Dr Moses will discuss the fundamental role of a comprehensive medication history and the wide range of medicines that require perioperative management, ranging from diabetes medicines to immune-modulating monoclonal antibodies. Taking a case-based approach, she will demonstrate which drug to focus on, where to find appropriate guidelines including Therapeutic Guidelines-Oral and Dental, how to monitor for perioperative adverse drug effects, and how to recommence medicines post-operatively.
Learning objectives:
- Know how to take a comprehensive medication history and why.
- Recognise which medicines cause perioperative adverse effects.
- Select which medicines to suspend, when and how.
- Access appropriate evidence to perioperative medicines management.
Geraldine Moses is a Doctor of Clinical Pharmacy specialising in drug information.
As well as providing a national drug information advisory service called “Pharma-Advice” for members of the Australian Dental Association, Geraldine also works part-time in the Academic Practice Unit of the Mater Public Hospital in Brisbane and is Adjunct Associate Professor in the Schools of Pharmacy at University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology. She also consults to organisations such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, NPS MedicineWise, the Commission for Safety in Quality in Health Care and the New Zealand Dental Association.
A well-known educator and speaker, Geraldine has received many awards including in 2002 she was named Australian Pharmacist of the Year, in 2013 she received ADAQ’s Medal of Merit, and in 2019 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for for services to health care as a pharmacist.
Time: 4:30pm - 6:00pm
Topic: The Aging Population - So Now What?
Speaker: Dr Mark Wotherspoon
How to continue serving and servicing your own patients as they transition from independent to dependent living.
Be part of the contemporary discussion on root caries treatment and prevention, dry mouth, and Full Mouth Deconstruction. What low cost, financially viable portable service can you immediately start to employ safely and with great outcomes. We discuss fees, scope of practice, Tele dentistry and plenty more.
Dr Mark Wotherspoon is a Private Practice general dentist who loves working with Hygienists and OHTs.
He has also worked in the remote Kimberley of Western Australia, served in the Regular Army as a Dental Officer and even set up a dental surgery within a Private Prison. More recently Dr Wotherspoon has developed the portable dental service “Dentist To Your Door” and participated in the ADA’s submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. He has alsoinvented, developed and launched a range of home care dental hygiene products.
