The Oregon Dental Conference was just held April 7-9 and our outstanding doctors, Lance Thompson, Allen Cheng, Ashish Patel and Baber Khatib all lead meaningful lectures over the course of the 3-day event. Here is a breakdown of each lecture that the doctors provided:

Dr. Lance Thompson gave his presentation titled “ODA EXPERT EXPRESS LECTURE SERIES: Dental Trauma” in the afternoon of April 7th. The dental and dentoalveolar complex is a commonly injured area in the maxillofacial region. Much attention has been given to different algorithms for management in the acute and early phases. However, the ramifications of the injury extend beyond into the intermediate to long term. During this session, attendees reviewed how dental trauma should be initially managed, how it should be followed, and some challenges that face the dentist and oral surgeon during definitive restoration. Topics that were covered included: Diagnosis of and classification of dental and dentoalveolar trauma; Acute management of dental and dentoalveolar trauma; Follow up after trauma; Pitfalls when considering restoration; and Pitfalls when considering implant dentistry. At the conclusion of this course, attendees were able to:

  • Classify the type of dental or dentoalveolar injury, and prognosticate the likelihood of dental salvage
  • Identify potential long-term sequelae that need to monitored and potentially intervened upon
  • Identify how trauma and its sequelae complicates the surrounding tissues and the viability of implant dentistry, and how techniques to mitigate this risk
Dr. Allen Cheng gave his presentation titled “ODA EXPERT EXPRESS LECTURE SERIES HPV: Warts and All!” in the morning of April 7th.  This course provided useful, clinically relevant information for the practicing dentist that they can apply immediately in their practice, with respect to appropriate screening education, counseling, diagnosis, and treatment (or referral). Topics that were covered included: Essential biology of the human papilloma virus; Clinical features and natural history of human papilloma virus related oral diseases; Human papilloma virus and oropharyngeal cancers; Human papilloma virus, am I infectious?; Screening tools for HPV: pearls and pitfalls; Diagnosis of HPV related diseases; Treatment of HPV related diseases; Brief overview of treatment of HPV related oropharyngeal cancer; “Should I get vaccinated?” How to address your patient’s questions on this delicate topic; and Emerging role of immunotherapy in management of HPV related oropharyngeal cancer. At the conclusion of this course, attendees were able to:
  • Describe how HPV is transmitted/acquired and its natural history
  • Diagnose commonly seen HPV related lesions
  • Describe HPV related oropharyngeal cancer and make the appropriate referrals for diagnosis and management

Dr. Ashish Patel gave his presentation titled “ODA EXPERT EXPRESS LECTURE SERIES Oral Lumps, Bumps, and Lesions: What Do I Do Next?” in the afternoon of April 8th.  Toral mucosal diseases are a source of anxiety for patients and dental practitioners alike and may have a significant negative impact on a patient’s quality of life. Oftentimes, incidentally discovered oral lesions alter the timeline of comprehensive dental treatment due to the time required for diagnostic workup or inability to access the oral cavity secondary to pain and irritation. The purpose of this course was to develop an algorithmic approach to diagnosis, treatment and referrals for a broad differential of oral lesions. At the conclusion of this course, attendees were able to:

  • Identify the majority of oral mucosal lesions and manifestations of systemic disease and develop a succinct and accurate differential diagnosis
  • Risk stratify lesions based on history and physical examination in low, intermediate, and high risk categories
  • Understand algorithms for oral mucosal diseases based on the above risk stratifications to facilitate comprehensive dental care, tissue diagnosis, treatment, observation and/or appropriate referrals

Dr. Baber Khatib gave his presentation titled “ODA EXPERT EXPRESS LECTURE SERIES Digital Implant Rehabilitation of the Edentulous Arch: Fundamentals of Scanning, Planning, and Point of Care Printing – An Expedited Workflow for Immediate Results” in the afternoon of April 9th. Digital dentistry has revolutionized the ability to scan, plan and execute same day delivery of immediate load prosthesis. Technological advances in scanners and in office printers have allowed for esthetic and functional reconstruction of even the most complex edentulous patients. Learn from reconstructive oral surgeons who regularly apply these principles to single or multiple tooth defects, full arch reconstructions using all on X versus graftless zygomatic implants, and even major defects such has gunshot wounds and cancer. At the conclusion of this course, attendees were able to:

  • Understand how a digital workflow simplifies full arch rehabilitation
  • Learn the basics of point of care printing including DLP vs. SLA printers, resin selection, prosthesis design, printing, curing and post processing steps
  • Improve communication between the implant surgeon and the restorative dentist for ideal prosthetically driven reconstruction