Nexø Public Dental Health Clinic
THE NEXØ METHOD:
A dental health care program based on
individualized non-operative caries treatment of children and adolescents aged 0-18.
The aim of the program is to maintain sound teeth using the fewest resources possible.
The treatment program is based on 3 principles - dosed at individually assessed recalls according to diagnosis and risk assessment:
- Education of parents, children and adolescents in understanding dental caries as a localized disease.
- Intensive training in home-based plaque control.
- Early professional non-operative intervention.
Successful implementation of the treatment program requires that the dental staff possesses thorough knowledge and understanding of the localized nature of dental caries according to these principles:
Caries is caused by bacteria present in the oral cavity. Changes in conditions of growth leading to accumulations of undisturbed bacteria on teeth initiate decalcification due to excessive acid production.
Mechanical forces prevent caries progression because of disturbance of plaque, whereas fluoride may only decelerate the progression process. Carbohydrates on the other hand may accelerate caries progression rate underneath undisturbed plaque.
Therefore prevention or early treatment means disturbance of bacteria accumulations in order to prevent acid production from reaching a level resulting in net loss of mineral from the tooth.
This is the philosophy behind the education of patients: To undertake the balance between bacteria and teeth by means of mechanical disturbance.
As a general recommendation patients are advised to brush their (child's) teeth before breakfast and before bedtime using fluoridated toothpaste stressing the importance of quality of the plaque removal. This is underlined during critical periods such as erupting periods for molars, due to facilitated possibilities for plaque accumulations and hence increased caries progression rate. Therefore the following tooth brushing technique is recommended: Hold the brush in bucco-lingual direction and rotate with small movements on the occlusal surface.
