Dr Lauralee Nygaard is a Board Certified Periodontist, with three additional years of specialty training beyond dental school. She attended Loma Linda University where she earned her Doctor of Dental Surgery degree and continued her education for three additional years in the graduate periodontics program for specialty training in periodontics, soft tissue procedures and implant dentistry where she earned a Certificate in Periodontics and a Masters of Science degree. Dr Nygaard is a member of The American Academy of Periodontology, the American Dental Association, the Washington State Dental Association, the Spokane District Dental Society and she is a Fellow in the International Society of Periodontal Plastic Surgeons. She currently maintains a practice in Spokane Valley, Washington.
Dental Hygienists play an important role on dental teams in building relationships with patients. Those relationships establish trust and provide opportunity to educate, encourage and motivate the behavior change necessary to achieve oral systemic health and smile rehabilitation. To best educate and inform, it is important for hygienists to have knowledge of medical history, periodontal treatment, periodontal recall, restorative options for occlusal rehabilitation, and informed consent for tooth replacement. Dr Nygaard will introduce a challenging case for participating hygienists to consider possible treatment options. They will be able to think about ways to restore periodontal health, enhance chewing function and the patient's smile, and develop an ideal plan to increase longevity. Dr Nygaard will share the completed treatment and the impact of this case as an example of the life changing dentistry dental teams create every day!
Upon completion of this course, attendees should be able to:
Identify clinic parameters that dictate non-surgical vs surgical periodontal therapy
Effectively inform patients about tooth replacement options for missing teeth
Identify ways to keep patients motivated to continue in recall for the long haul to achieve oral systemic health and reconstructive success