[Education and the dentist in 2025. An inventory of the gerodontology-programme for 5 Dutch and Flemish dental schools]. / Serie: Tandheelkundig onderwijs anno 2025. Een inventarisatie van het gerodontologie-onderwijs bij 5 Nederlandse en Vlaamse opleidingen tandheelkunde.

In a consensus meeting (September 2019) of the three Dutch and the two Flemish dental schools their current education programmes on gerodontology were presented and discussed. The aim was to examine if these programmes were in line with the most recent (inter)national guidelines, such as those of the European College of Gerodontology and the recently introduced Dutch framework Oral Health Care (2020). Therefore, the competences regarding the domain of gerodontology were analysed to assess if students were prepared adequately to meet the oral health care needs of the ageing population. In the consensus meeting a new set of competences was formulated together with a new outline for the gerodontology-programme applicable for the Dutch and Flemish dental schools.

[Caries explosion following bariatric surgery]. / Cariësexplosie na bariatrische chirurgie.

In a general dental practice, attention was drawn to a patient by numerous deep carious cavities following bariatric surgery. In the research literature, indications can be found for a negative influence of bariatric surgery on oral health. Risk factors for caries, such as the number of cariogenic bacteria in saliva, inadequate quantity and quality of saliva, gastrooesophageal reflux and vomiting may be become more pronounced. Additionally, dietary habits will change due to the altered anatomy of the gastro-intestinal tract. Negative effects of bariatric surgery on periodontal tissue have also been found. However, it is conceivable that patients who are overweight already have poorer oral health prior to bariatric surgery,due to lifestyle and dietary habits, than comparable people who are not overweight. Health education programmes prior to and following bariatric surgery seem to have a positive effect on oral health. Initiating more research into oral health related to bariatric surgery is recommended.

[Autonomy in the individual oral care programme of the care-dependent cognitively impaired older patient]. / Autonomie in het mondzorgplan van de zorgafhankelijke, cognitief beperkte oudere patiënt.

The decision-making process on oral healthcare issues concerning caredependent, frail older people living in nursing homes may be complex if patients are incapable of (adequately) expressing consent or are legally incapacitated. Therefore, oral healthcare professionals providing care to cognitively impaired patients in nursing homes need background knowledge of healthcare legislation and healthcare ethics, concerning the aspects relevant to developing an individual oral care programme. In this article, attention is given to these aspects of healthcare legislation and ethics, and the guideline 'Mondzorg en verzet bij wilsonbekwaamheid ter zake' (oral healthcare and resistance of the legally incapacitated) is described. This can be applied in comparable cases.

[Active oxygen in the treatment of (root) caries and its suitability for frail older people]. / Actieve zuurstof bij de behandeling van (wortel)cariës en de toepasbaarheid ervan bij kwetsbare ouderen.

In 2000 it was suggested that there was a new, fast and simple way to treat dental caries based on the outcomes of an in vitro study of the antimicrobial effect of ozone, a form of active oxygen, on caries lesions in dental roots. The aim of the review of literature described in this article was to determine the effectiveness of active oxygen in the treatment of dental (root) caries as demonstrated by in vivo research of frail older people'. From the results it became clear that the quality of the various trials is not very high and that there is, at least at the present time, an insufficient solid scientific evidence base that the use of ozone is an effective treatment for dental (root) caries. It is, however, still too early to conclude that active oxygen, in whatever form, cannot contribute positively to the fight against caries.

[Dissertation 25 years after date 39. Oral self-care by dentate elderly]. / Proefschriften 25 jaar na dato 39.Orale zelfzorg voor dentate ouderen.

In 1989, the dissertation 'Oral self-care for dentate elderly' was published. Among other things, the effect of an information leaflet on oral self-care was investigated in a randomised, controlled trial. The outcome of the entire intervention was positive. Subsequent to this dissertation no comparable research has been carried out in the Netherlands or abroad. Nevertheless, concerns remain about the oral self-care of dentate older people. To improve the oral (self-)care of nursing home residents, carers should be educated theoretically and practically, preferably during their professional training. With regard to older people living at home, oral healthcare providers should assess whether their oral health condition will be stable for the rest of their life, at the latest when their general health condition is beginning to deteriorate. Determining factors in this regard are a stable dentition that can easily be kept clean, particularly when oral implants are present. As soon as older people who are living at home become dependent, they will require support. Oral health care providers should, then, make sure that their practices physically accessible and should be prepared to deliver care at home.