Check-in, materials pick-up, networking with colleagues and interprofessional guests.

 

Overview of goals, CE credits and engagement tips.

 

Meet the leaders making medical-dental integration a reality. Created by CareQuest and Henry Schein, BRIDGE Health Network is a curated network of dental professionals committed to advancing systemic models of care and disease prevention by incorporating diabetes screenings into dental hygiene visits. In this session, you’ll hear from the dental teams providing point of care screening, educational resources, and care coordination for patients, as they share early learnings, patient impacts, and insights on where MDI is headed.

0.75 CE / CME

 

Mini pop-ups with oral cancer self-screening demos, blood pressure checks, ergonomic stretch instruction and hydration station. 

Session 1 –Avoiding and Managing Complications in Implant Dentistry: A Medical–Dental Approach
Track: Diabetes Management Across Disciplines
Mohamed Attia, DDS, MAGD, DABOI, FAAID, DICOI

Successful implant therapy extends beyond surgical technique and prosthetic planning; it requires a thorough understanding of the patient’s medical status, systemic health, and medication profile, and how these factors directly influence healing, osseointegration, and long-term implant success. Many implant complications arise not solely from technical errors, but from inadequate assessment of systemic risk factors such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, autoimmune conditions, smoking history, sleep apnea, and parafunctional habits, as well as the use of medications including bisphosphonates, anticoagulants, antiplatelet agents, steroids, SSRIs, and immunosuppressive therapies.

This lecture emphasizes the critical link between medicine and dentistry, highlighting how comprehensive medical evaluation can significantly reduce surgical and biologic complications. Special focus is placed on optimizing soft and hard tissue healing through evidence-based surgical protocols, atraumatic techniques, flap design, graft selection, and the incorporation of biologic modifiers such as platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) to enhance angiogenesis, reduce inflammation, accelerate wound healing, and improve patient outcomes.

Participants will explore strategies for managing medically complex patients, modifying treatment plans based on systemic conditions, and recognizing contraindications to immediate placement or loading. Digital planning, CBCT analysis, and restoratively driven workflows are integrated with biologic principles to achieve predictable outcomes. Through interactive discussion and real clinical cases, this session equips clinicians with practical tools to prevent complications, improve healing, enhance patient safety, and deliver implant care that is both medically responsible and surgically predictable.

Learning Objectives:

1. Assess patient medical history and systemic risk factors and their impact on implant healing, osseointegration, and complication rates.
2. Identify common medications (e.g., bisphosphonates, anticoagulants, steroids, SSRIs, immunosuppressants) and evaluate their implications for implant surgery and postoperative healing.
3. Understand the oral–systemic relationship and how systemic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, autoimmune disorders, and sleep apnea influence implant outcomes.

Session 2 – Enhancing Access for Patients with Diabetes through Oral Health Integration
Track: Diabetes Management Across Disciplines
Candace Owen, RDH, MS, MPH
NNOHA
Research continues to support the relationship between oral health and diabetes. Since 2020, National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) has conducted national quality improvement collaboratives to implement integration of diabetes and oral health care (IDOH) programs as a strategy to increase access to care and manage diabetes outcomes. This session will review the findings from three cohorts of NNOHA’s Integration of Diabetes and Oral Health Learning Collaborative.

Session 3 – Discussing the Evidence and Use in Oral Care Products
Track: Workforce Collaboration
Derek Gatta, DMD, MS
The presentation objective is to inform the audience on Hydroxyapatite’s (HA) role as a remineralizing agent in prophylactic oral health care. This discussion will dive into the history of HA, the chemical structure, differences between micro and nano particles, and the mechanism of action and therapeutic benefits.

1.0 CE / CME

 

Session 1 – Integrated Care Pathways: Connecting Oral, Physical, and Behavioral Health
Track: Behavioral Health & Oral Care
Ashleigh Kirk, MSW
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
At the foundation of our work as healthcare providers, health must be considered as a whole in order to meet an individual’s unique physical, mental, emotional, and social needs. Oral health and behavioral health have many bidirectional effects on overall well-being. This session will cover the data demonstrating bidirectional impacts and the resources and tools for behavioral health and oral health interprofessional collaborations.

Session 2 – TBA

Session 3 – Microbiomes, Mothers, and Minds: The Diet–Oral-Gut–Brain Axis
Track: Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes
Mark Cannon, DDS, MS
This lecture explores the intricate interplay between maternal diet, oral and gut microbiomes, and child development through the lens of the diet–oral-gut–brain axis. We investigate the impact of dysbiosis on maternal periodontal health, placental integrity, and fetal outcomes, including preterm birth and neurodevelopmental disorders.

1.0 CE / CME

 

Fuel up and dive in. Enjoy a hosted networking lunch while connecting with peers, industry partners, and hands-on activation stations designed to bring integrated care to life. Explore interactive experiences like dry mouth assessments and A1c testing—all while discovering innovative tools and solutions that support whole-person care. Eat, connect, explore and experience integration in action.

 

Simulation Lab: Oral Cancer Screening: It’s More Than Grasping the Tongue
Track: Oral Cancer Early Detection
Susan Cotten, BSDH, RDH, OMT
Oral Cancer Consulting and Oral Cancer Free
Early detection saves lives, and a comprehensive head and neck exam, oral and oropharyngeal screening are critical to the early detection of oral and oropharyngeal cancer. This hands-on workshop unpacks the components of a comprehensive screening, teaches clinical skills to perform a comprehensive screening, using case presentations to support why each component is important and should not be skipped. Attendees will don masks and gloves for hands-on work and receive their own screening packet to take and support implementation.

1.25 CE / CME

 

A short, guided breathing/stretch session, then pair participants with someone from another discipline for a “share one wellness hack you use with patients” exchange.

 

Session 1 – Collaborating to Address Access and Improve Overall Health
Track: Health Equity & Access
Matt Crespin, RDH, MPH, FADHA; Constance Gundacker, MD, MPH, FAAP
Oral health is integral to overall health. Across the U.S. millions of children and families visit a physician but don’t see or have access to a dental provider. Innovative solutions to integrate dental providers into medical settings are happening in places like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Colorado and are possible in many other places without any legislative policy change. This session will explore the opportunities available for medical dental integration (MDI) and share the feasibility of implementing this model in your community.

Session 2 – Screening, Early Intervention & Interprofessional Protocols
Track: Behavioral Health & Oral Care
Lisa Mayo, RDH, BSDH, MHA
This course will teach dental providers how to pair advanced early caries diagnostics (AI, fluorescence, infrared) with the procedure Guided Hydroxyapatite Generation (GHG). GHG uses a non-invasive biomimetic solution to treat early dental caries and preserve a patient’s natural tooth structure. Through a fully integrated workflow, attendees will gain practical skills in patient triage, lesion detection, treatment application, patient communication, and seamless implementation into daily practice.

Session 3 – Financing and Policy Levers for Integration
TBA

1.0 CE / CME

 

 

 

Join us for a lively evening reception featuring chef-curated heavy appetizers and an open beer and wine bar. This relaxed, social setting creates space to unwind, continue conversations from the day and meet colleagues from across the healthcare spectrum. Whether you’re meeting peers for the first time or catching up with familiar faces, this reception offers an easy, welcoming environment for real conversation and relaxed networking.