Prevention Over Prevalence: Importance of Interdental Cleaning

Informed clinicians can help tailor individualized, patientspecific recommendations for effective interdental cleaning.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
After reading this course, the participant should be able to:

1. Describe the prevalence of periodontal disease in the United
   States, and the basic structure of the American Academy of
   Periodontology’s (AAP) disease classification system.
2. Explain various approaches to interdental cleaning, and how
   the AAP classifications can be used to develop patient-specific
   oral hygiene recommendations.
3. Discuss clinical strategies to help improve the efficacy of
   patients’ self-care regimens.

This course was issued in August 2020 and expires August 2023. The authors have no commercial conflicts of interest to disclose. This 2 credit hour self-study activity is electronically mediated.