Newswise — Chicago, IL (August 4, 2016) - American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) advocates for dental hygiene practice that is both evidence-based and patient/client-centered. ADHA’s newly revised Standards for Clinical Dental Hygiene Practice emphasize that the dental hygiene care plan be personalized according to the individual’s unique oral health needs, general health status, values, expectations and abilities. Not all adjunct devices are appropriate for all patients, and it is important for dental hygiene professionals to work with their patients on which interdental cleaning method fits their needs.
ADHA does support flossing with proper technique as instructed by your dental hygienist among other interdental implements being beneficial to removing bacteria, biofilm, and food debris from interproximal areas that toothbrushing cannot access.
ADHA's newly revised National Dental Hygiene Research Agenda (NDHRA) is designed to guide future dental hygiene research to add to our growing body of knowledge. An opportunity exists to strengthen and further research dental flossing as an effective means of mechanical plaque removal.
The NDHRA is based on a conceptual research model that includes oral health care as an area of research at the client level. Application of this model to the questions surrounding the use of dental floss would lead dental hygiene researchers through the discovery, testing/evaluation and dissemination/translation phases of research to establish clinical guidelines regarding the use of adjuncts to toothbrushing.
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