[Systemic communication in a dental context].

As patients in a dental or medical context, persons find themselves in a vulnerable, exceptional psychological and physical situation, in which the solution-oriented regulation of emotions requires mindful, systemic communication. This review describes typical placebo and nocebo effects in verbal, paraverbal and non-verbal communication and their impact on patients and their relationship with dental or medical professionals. In addition, a training curriculum for second-year undergraduate dental master’s students is described, that not only provides students with the necessary competences for solution-oriented systemic communication, but also enables them to experience its effectiveness in the clinical context.

[Kommunikation bei Demenz].

A scoping review investigated the effectiveness of different communicative interventions for patients with dementia. It demonstrated that communication between caregivers and dementia patients is improved by music, multisensory stimulation, and communication training. As a result agitation, mania, fear, anger and corrective touching are reduced, and fluency, spontaneous speech, eye contact, smiling and affective touching are enhanced.

Attitudes of dental students towards treating elderly patients. Dental students’ attitudes on geriatric patients.

The purpose of this questionnaire-based survey was to evaluate the attitudes of the undergraduate dental students towards elders. The 14-item Geriatric attitudes scale (GAS) questionnaire, along with a 9-item questionnaire with specific questions on the current geriatric dental curriculum, confidence, and preference in treating the elderly patients were administered to the undergraduate dental students (3rd bachelor, 1st master, and 2nd master) in the four Swiss university dental schools. Mean GAS scores were calculated and inter- and intra-group differences were analyzed with ANOVA and post hoc tests (level of significance set at α=0.

Digital Oral Medicine for the Elderly.

Sustainable oral care of the elderly requires a holistic view of aging, which must extend far beyond the narrow field of dental expertise to help reduce the effects of sociobiological changes on oral health in good time. Digital technologies now extend into all aspects of daily life. This review summarizes the diverse digital opportunities that may help address the complex challenges in Gerodontology.

[Changing paradigm for better oral health of the elderly].

Gerodontology is still understanding itself as a special field that is caring for elderly persons in the 4th stage of life needing nursing and generally living in an institution. In spite of all efforts that have been made, oral health of this population has not really improved. The reason for this lies in the fact that the causes of oral diseases which we face in institutions occur much earlier, in the so-called 3rd stage of life, in which the elderly are living at home and care for their daily life more or less independently.

The elderly patient: no reason to worry!?

In December 2013, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has placed Switzerland for the first time at the top of the list of countries’ general population life ex- pectancy. The augmenting life expectancy and demographic changes are leading to an increase in the number of older people who are dependent on care (Höpflinger & Hugentobler 2003, Höpflinger et al. 2011).

The effect of tooth loss on gait stability of community-dwelling older adults.

Objective: To investigate the effects of tooth loss on gait stability in a healthy elderly population.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted among healthy and prosthetically well-restored seniors over the age of 65 years. The test group comprised 24 edentulous participants who were restored with complete dentures in the upper jaw and an overdenture fixed on two implants in the lower jaw.

[Medical and psycho-social screening of ageing patients in dental office].

The demographic changes cause an increasing number of ageing persons laying claim to medical and dental care. They are trying to maintain their habit of regular dental controls. Therefore, the dental care team should be able to recognize early medical and psycho-social deficiencies relevant for oral health.

[Malnutrition in the elderly--a interdisciplinary problem for the dentist].

Success in dental treatment and long-term care of elderly persons requires an interdisciplinary consideration of aging. Medical knowledge, which is far beyond specific dental expertise, is assumed. A typical example is that of malnutrition, which in spite of its high frequency in the elderly, has not yet been considered to be important in dentistry.

Three-dimensional treatment planning for prosthetic rehabilitation.

All prosthetic rehabilitations require healthy, stable oral conditions. The biologic response to the preliminary treatment provides important criteria for planning the final reconstruction and permits testing of the desired prosthetic treatment goals within the unique patient-specific biologic conditions before final restoration. This study used long-term provisional restorations that corresponded in both form and function to the anticipated restorations.