Connecting the mouth and body in 21st century healthcare

Philips Oral Healthcare hosted its bi-annual Symposium in Amsterdam with a series of internationally renowned speakers exploring the future of oral health and overall health 

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Philips Oral Healthcare hosted its two-day Scientific Symposium (18th-19th June): Connecting the Mouth and Body in the 21st Century Healthcare. The Symposium preceded Philips Oral Healthcare’s attendance at EuroPerio 9 (Booth #10.15) and examined the mounting scientific evidence linking oral and systemic health.

Across two full days of lectures and workshops, speakers discussed the newest developments in scientific research, including the significant shift in the perspective on oral health and overall wellbeing, and the changing role of digital technologies in oral care; particularly in the areas of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and pregnancy.

“Our Symposium brought together industry leaders facilitating discussion and understanding on the links between overall health and oral healthcare. At Philips, our mission is to improve the lives of 3 billion people by 2025 through meaningful innovations in healthcare. By combining insights, evidence and learnings we’re able to focus on driving advancements with our digital solutions and education platforms for dental professionals to help them help their patients; ultimately working together to better outcomes and overall longer term health and wellbeing,” commented Michael-John Kühne, Business Leader, Philips Oral Healthcare.

New developments in the link between oral health with overall health  

Keynote speaker, Professor Dr. R Bruce Donoff, Dean of Harvard School of Dental Medicine, shared his experience of the integration within the specialties of oral and maxillofacial surgery and oral cancer care, with his address – ‘Integrate oral health into medicine: past and future state’.  The welcome also addressed the history of medical dental, its integration into the present and how dentistry must change its scope in order to better serve the world’s population; as the role of education, clinical practice and the practice acts, benefits, outcomes, and policy all must be addressed.

Dr. Niklaus P Lang, Professor Emeritus at the University of Berne, in Switzerland, offered an insight into, ‘Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT) within the framework of a Swiss Quality-centered periodontal treatment approach’, while new health insights emerged from Dr. Alvaro Marco del Castillo, around the role of periodontal disease and inflammation in CVD through clinical case studies and the latest developments.

Dr. Bruno G. Loos, Professor at the Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam, author of, ‘The dental office can be supportive in cardiovascular disease management’, demonstrated the need for close working relationships between the medical community and dental hospitals.

“The treatment of periodontitis not only results in improvement of the periodontal situation, but also in significant improvements of clinical parameters of the cardiovascular system,” commented Dr. Loos.

Introducing new topics into the overall discussion, Professor Dr. Purnima Kumar DDS, a leading researcher on the human microbiome, shared findings on, ‘Glycemic control and oral health: a two-way street’, while dental hygienist Elmira Boloori, who works in her own periodontology and implantology clinic in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, addressed the association of periodontitis and adverse pregnancy outcomes discussed in, ‘Oral health during pregnancy’.

Facilitating the discussion throughout the day, Professor Dr. Iain Chapple set the scene looking at periodontitis and mortality using chronic kidney disease as a model systemic co-morbidity to address the question of whether periodontitis is causally linked to systemic diseases or whether the association is purely coincidental, titled ‘Periodontitis & Mortality – Cause or Coincidence?’.

Digital technologies and the role of data in the future 

The Symposium discussed the latest trends and digital systems available to patients and DPs worldwide with Dr. Robert Kalla, a practitioner with considerable experience in digital systems and patient data management, examining how these systems benefit patient outcomes.

“Digital technologies are considered a real tool in dental public health worldwide,” says Dr. Nicolas Giraudeau, principal author of the book, ‘e-health in dentistry and oral medicine’, who shared his knowledge of telemedicine in dentistry and oral medicine to the benefit of those patients often with limited access to healthcare.

Echoing the Symposium at Philips during EuroPerio 9  

Philips Oral Healthcare is present at EuroPerio 9 and is staging workshops throughout the event –20th, 21st and 23rd June – which will echo the Symposium findings. At the Philips booth, delegates have the opportunity for hands-on experience of Philips Oral Healthcare’s innovations, including the latest Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart.

Additionally on 21st June at 2.00pm at the Philips stand (Booth #10.15), Dr Michèle Reners, President of EuroPerio 9, will be signing copies of her new book ‘Periodontology Made Easy’.

For more information about Philips Oral Healthcare visit our Dental Professional website.