SIGNIFICANT ASSOCIATION ACHIEVEMENTS FOR 2004-2007
The implementation by law of the periodontal health screening developed by Claudia Luciak Donsberger. This means that, for the first time, a screening for periodontal (gum) disease is included in the general health examination which is covered by the national social insurance Medical doctors are now paying closer attention to this disease. It is the objective of the screening to raise awareness among the medical, the dental, and the general population about periodontal disease. In Austria, periodontal disease is commonly viewed as an inevitable and untreatable consequence of aging. Prevention and treatment are excluded from national social insurance coverage and dental hygiene care has not been introduced on a professional level. In Austria, preceptorship trained assistants provide hygiene (and frequently periodontal) care, either without any formal coursework or after a 2 to 3 work continuing education course.
As a result of this lack in quality control, a high incidence of undetected and untreated periodontal diseases prevail. It is the objective of periodontal screening that patients with a series of identifiable risk factors may be directed toward professional care and that structures will be created to provide increased access to periodontal services, such as the inclusion of prevention and treatment into national social insurance coverage and the implementation of dental hygiene education in order to give the Austrian population the same access to quality care as found in most other European Union Member States.
An article about the screening with the title "Evidence-Based Reasoning for a Periodontal Disease Screening Program" by Claudia Luciak-Donsberger, PhD, MA, RDH. and Franz Piribauer, MD, MPH has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice.
The implementation by law of the periodontal health screening developed by Claudia Luciak Donsberger. This means that, for the first time, a screening for periodontal (gum) disease is included in the general health examination which is covered by the national social insurance Medical doctors are now paying closer attention to this disease. It is the objective of the screening to raise awareness among the medical, the dental, and the general population about periodontal disease. In Austria, periodontal disease is commonly viewed as an inevitable and untreatable consequence of aging. Prevention and treatment are excluded from national social insurance coverage and dental hygiene care has not been introduced on a professional level. In Austria, preceptorship trained assistants provide hygiene (and frequently periodontal) care, either without any formal coursework or after a 2 to 3 work continuing education course.
As a result of this lack in quality control, a high incidence of undetected and untreated periodontal diseases prevail. It is the objective of periodontal screening that patients with a series of identifiable risk factors may be directed toward professional care and that structures will be created to provide increased access to periodontal services, such as the inclusion of prevention and treatment into national social insurance coverage and the implementation of dental hygiene education in order to give the Austrian population the same access to quality care as found in most other European Union Member States.
An article about the screening with the title "Evidence-Based Reasoning for a Periodontal Disease Screening Program" by Claudia Luciak-Donsberger, PhD, MA, RDH. and Franz Piribauer, MD, MPH has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice.
