The student will be able to:

1. Evaluate the role of evidence-based resources to support periodontal treatment decisions.
2. Explain the process of developing an individualized periodontal treatment plan and obtaining informed consent through clear patient communication.
3. Differentiate the nonsurgical periodontal therapies to determine appropriate patient care strategies.
4. Explain the steps in motivational interviewing to support oral health behavior change.
5. Compare chemical agents and procedures for irrigation, differentiating between home-use and professional methods.
6. Outline the steps involved in the periodontal maintenance visit.
7. Identify the anatomy of dental implants, recognize peri-implant diseases, and describe maintenance protocols for dental implants.
8. Describe acute periodontal conditions and outline appropriate management strategies.
9. Explain basic concepts of periodontal surgery and the dental hygienist's role in care.
10. Document the legal and ethical considerations involved in periodontal care.
11. Apply current research in periodontal disease to improve patient care and treatment outcomes.

1. Best practices in periodontal care
   1. Utilization of research and evidence-based guidelines
   2. Components of evidence-based decision making
   3. Patient engagement in evidence-based decision making
   4. Commitment to lifelong learning skills
2. Implementation of periodontal care
   1. Periodontal diagnosis and collaboration with dentist
   2. Decisions related to sequencing care
   3. Informed consent
   4. Communication strategies for treatment planning
   5. Patient-centered considerations
3. Nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT)
   1. Indications and goals of NSPT
   2. Instrumentation
      1. Rationale
      2. Hand instrumentation vs. power instrumentation
      3. Expected healing outcomes and tissue response
   3. Nonsurgical procedures performed by the dental hygienist
      1. Indications and contraindications
      2. Use of antimicrobial agents
      3. Correction of local contributing factors
      4. Addressing systemic risk factors
      5. Host modulation
      6. Management of dentinal hypersensitivity
      7. Establishing a periodontal maintenance interval
4. Patient motivation and home care
   1. Principles of motivational interviewing
   2. Core skills (OARS)
      1. Open-ended questions
      2. Affirmations
      3. Reflective listening
      4. Summaries
   3. Patient's role in nonsurgical periodontal therapy
5. Chemical agents in periodontal care
   1. Plaque biofilm control
   2. Patient applied chemical agents (home use)
   3. Professionally applied or prescribed agents
   4. Irrigation
   5. Systemic antibiotics to control bacterial plaque biofilm
   6. Topically delivered agents
6. Maintenance for the periodontal patient
   1. Components of periodontal maintenance
   2. Who provides periodontal maintenance
   3. Maintenance interval
   4. Disease recurrence
   5. Patient compliance
7. Implant maintenance
   1. Implant anatomy
   2. Peri-implant mucositis
   3. Peri-implantitis
   4. Signs of a failing implant
   5. Treatment modalities for failing implant
   6. Components of implant maintenance
8. Acute periodontal conditions
   1. Abscesses
      1. Periodontal abscess
      2. Endodontic abscess
      3. Endo-perio lesion
      4. Management
   2. Necrotizing periodontal diseases
      1. Necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (NUG)
      2. Necrotizing ulcerative periodontitis (NUP)
      3. Management
   3. Primary herpetic gingivostomamitis
      1. Management
9. Periodontal surgical concepts for the dental hygienist
   1. Periodontal surgery
   2. Periodontal flap procedure
   3. Free gingival graft
   4. Bone grafting
   5. Osseous resective surgery
   6. Crown lengthening
   7. Dental implant placement
   8. Guided tissue regeneration
   9. Gingivectomy
   10. Sutures, periodontal dressing
   11. Post surgical instructions and follow-up visits
   12. Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) considerations
10. Documentation and reporting
    1. Documentation of periodontal care
    2. Computer-based patient records
    3. Insurance codes for periodontal procedures
    4. Legal responsibilites
    5. Ethical principles
11. Future directions in periodontal disease management
    1. Advances in diagnostic technology
    2. Oral and systemic disease connections
    3. Dental implants
    4. Emerging treatment modalities
12. Patient case studies
    1. Application of course content to comprehensive patient cases
    2. Research evidence-based practices
    3. Create dental hygiene treatment plan for case studies