Participation in CAMBRA Patients are categorized into risk levels based on disease indicators and risk factors they present with. Once patients are assigned a risk level, interventions and procedures are tailored …show more content…
These patients could be moved to the low caries risk, if risk factors are eliminated. They could also be easily moved to the high caries risk category, if they have more risk factors come up (Jenson et al., 2007).
High-Risk Patients Individuals in the high-risk category are classified due to having cavitated lesions, which is a significant disease indicator and risk factor. It is also possible for a patient to be categorized as high-risk, but they do not have any cavitated lesions. This would be the case if there were multiple disease indicators and risk factors applicable, and they had previous caries experience that was recent (Jenson et al., 2007).
Extreme-Risk Patients Extreme-risk patients are classified as such based on the same factors as a high-risk individual. The only difference is that extreme-risk individuals have some sort of special need that hinders their ability to take adequate care of themselves. Another difference is that the patient has a high-risk plus a condition that causes them to be hyposalivary, which affects the buffering capabilities of their saliva (Jenson et al., …show more content…
The patient has to want to change the behavior, and they also have to understand why it is necessary to change the behavior. A patient who is unmotivated to change is less likely to be compliant. It is important to provide the patient with all the education and equipment necessary for them to be successful. It is also essential to hold them accountable for their own care, and let them know the risks and benefits of doing or not doing something. Overall, the hygienist can only do so much to motivate the patient, and the patient has to find intrinsic motivators to keep them on