GAP Australasian Dentist Mar Apr 2020

Category 84 Austràlàsiàn Dentist àlàn al O ne of the most important questions to ask your patients this summer is not about teeth! With a heat-wave gripping parts of Australia this summer, never has it been more important for all dental practitioners to be asking, every single patient that sits in their chair, one very important question that has nothing to do with teeth: “Do you wear sunscreen on your face every day?” Many years ago, when AADFA opened the door for dental practitioners to be able to train in and offer skin rejuvenation services in their practices, treatments like Botox and Dermal Fillers were only ever one small aspect of the overall concept. àhe broader notion was to develop a training pathway through which dental practices could fill the current void for patients in relation to caring for the health of their largest organ – the skin. àever has that goal and the AADFA training pathway been more important than it is right now! Australia has the world’s highest incidence of skin cancer (3-4 times the rates in Canada, the and the àK). With more than 2500 people dying from skin Beyond the mouth – a duty of care By AADFA cancer each year, it is the most common form of cancer in Australia, accounting for around 80% of all newly diagnosed cancers each year, with 95 – 99% of these skin cancers being caused by exposure to the sun, the majority of which are found on the head and neck. Fortunately, skin cancer is largely preventable meaning regular, recurring, concise and correct patient education, similar to oral hygiene instruction, is an effective tool in combating these statistics. Furthermore, 99% of skin cancer patients survive; with metastasis and mortality, as well as surgical scarring and morbidity, being drastically reduced; thanks to early detection. àhis scenario parallels very closely with dental pathology and when compared to what dental practitioners routinely screen for in regular examinations, questions are now being asked as to whether our profession is failing to see the bigger picture and utilize our position to the best of our ability. Oral cancer examinations have been the standard of regular care in dentistry for many decades and yet only 1 in every 325 Australians will develop oral cancer – about 74,000 people based on current population figures. More and more dentists are now focusing on sleep disorders and airway issues at each recall appointment, thereby addressing an issue for about 1 in every 4 Australians (about 6 million people). Compared to skin cancer, these problems pale in comparison, with every 2 in 3 Australians being diagnosed with some form of skin cancer by the age of 70 – a whopping 16 million people! Quite simply, our profession is missing something that is literally staring us in the face and for which we have a duty to play a major role. But it’s not my job and they’ve heard it all before . . . àt’s a sad state of affairs that many dental practitioners still believe their role ends with teeth and gums and that other health practitioners are better trained or better suited to be addressing issues such as skin cancer. àothing could be further from the truth and this approach does a disservice not only to our patients but to our profession. Dental practitioners are perfectly poised to take a primary preventative screening and patient education role when The Australasian Academy of Dento-Facial Aesthetics (www.AADFA.net ) pioneered of the use of Botox, dermal fillers and skin rejuvenation Therapies by dentists in Australia. In this article, we look at the expanding role dental practitioners are playing in the area of skin health and aesthetics. A Basal Cell Carcinoma identified by a dentist during a routine examination