Community Dentistry Division

Svante Twetman, Odont Dr, DDS, Professor, Specialist Consultant in Cariology and Paediatric Dentistry

The Community & Preventive Dentistry Division focuses on oral health promotion, clinical prevention of dental caries and analysis of dental caries epidemiology. The oral health promotion programme comprises individual and school-based community activities of health behaviour and education. Management focuses on cariogenic diet, oral hyriene, antimicrobial therapy and use of fluoride. Anti-tobacco management has also priority. Caries epidemiological information of all children within the county, nearly 50,000 from 3-19 years of age are recorded, stored and analysed annually in computer-base.

Extensive education programmes for the dental team involve community oral health promotion and individual and collective caries-prevention programs using antibacterial and fluoride treatments. Research activities are focused on caries preventive methods for children, adults and the elderly. Those activities comprise clinical approaches of new caries diagnostic tools, oral pharmaceuticals in caries prevention and epidemiology combined with health economic evaluation within national and international projects. The clinical approach is concentrated on prevention and on the treatment of adults with severe and rare caries diseases combined with risk assessment. Management of dental erosion and hard tissues disorders are also included.

Evidence based denstistry is followed within the organization of the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (www. sbu.se)

Development and Trends of Oral Health Epidemiology can be followed in Document file Dental Health Epidemiology of Halland Sweden 2006. (PDF-dokument, 208 kB)