Pharmacologic Management of the Geriatric Patient: Practice Considerations for Oral Health Care Professionals

About this Seminar

The purpose of this course is to review medications used by older adults with related oral complications and drug interactions of significance to dentistry. Medication therapies, oral drug and disease complications, drug interactions and dental practice management considerations will be discussed. Recommendations for treatment modifications and oral hygiene self-care programs will be provided. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this continuing education program, course participants will be able to: 1. Discuss how normal physiological changes of aging influence drug prescribing behaviors. 2. Discuss medication classes used to treat depression and anxiety in older adults. 3. Identify and discuss medications used in dentistry included in the Beers criteria for safe prescribing to older adults. 4. Review drugs that cause increased risk for falling. 5. Discuss drugs that alter heart rhythm, including drugs used in dentistry. 6. Review commonly abused substances by older adults with related oral and systemic health implications. 7. Describe common oral disorders observed in the elderly population, including xerostomia, taste and smell disorders, orofacial muscular disorders, and lichenoid drug reactions.

Sponsor

Presenters

About Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, RDH, PhD, FSCDH

Ann Eshenaur Spolarich, RDH, PhD, FSCDH is an internationally recognized author and speaker on pharmacology and the care of medically complex patients. She has presented over 900 lectures and has over 100 professional publications. She is Professor, Course Director of Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology, and Director of Research at the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, where she also teaches part-time in the Special Care Clinic. Ann also serves as Associate Director of the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research & Practice. Ann received fellowship status in special care dental hygiene awarded by the Special Care Dentistry Association in 2016.