Professional approach to microbial biofilms - Part I. Patient care and prevention. Focusing on microbial biofilms to successfully prevent, minimize and/or cure infectious oral conditions.

Biofilm-producing bacteria account for the vast majority of bacterial infections, an important concern in all health care systems. The role of clinical as well as preclinical, supportive, and reprocessing procedures, is vital. Treatment outcome and success depends to a great extent on proper procedures to interfere with microbial biofilms and must involve the whole team.

This is the first part of a series comprising two separate webinars covering the clinical importance of microbial biofilms as well as maintenance and reprocessing of instruments.

Objectives

The webinar is designed to update the whole dental team about the latest finding on bacterial biofilms and:

• clinical characteristics and consequences
• new versus mature stages
• acute and/or chronic infections – obstacles and complications
• distant and long-term conditions
• antimicrobials/antibiotics
• chemical agents
• dental materials

Bacterial biofilm is a gel like matrix where biofilm polymicrobial associated infections often have indolent pathogenic patterns with altering quiescent and acute disease periods.

Bacteria in biofilms are substantially protected by the biofilm itself from antibiotics, immunoactivity, white blood cells, surfactants, and disinfectants. Well established biofilms require mechanical and/or surgical removal.

Over time bacterial biofilms will have a more complex physical composition, and different species inhabiting the community will finetune mutual activities. Secretion of bacterial toxins will have local and systemic effects. Bacteria use autoinducers (bacterial signal substances) to communicate with each other as well as with human cells, thereby being able to regulate survival and pathological processes even over distances.

The results of therapeutic measures will be dependent on the skills and knowledge of the dental personnel as well as of prudent logistics, maintenance and care of medical devices and instruments.