For Dentists and Dental Hygienists:
6 hour for associated CEU credits

Course Description:

Do you have patients that would benefit from basic nutritional counseling? Would you like to receive tips on how to apply nutrition education during patient care?

Dentistry isn’t “just about the mouth”—it’s about the whole patient. As a dental professional, you are in a unique position to provide your patients with the highest degree of preventive healthcare. Lisa Mallonee has spent her professional career focused on the connection between nutrition and oral health. Ms. Mallonee will review the practical application of diet as it pertains to dental health and bring you up to date on:

1) the growing body of knowledge on diet and nutrition as it relates to oral health, and
2) the implications for patient care. You will come away from this course with useful information on how to assess nutritional status, as well as helpful tips for including nutrition education in your practice.

All members of the dental team will benefit from the learning how to:
  • Identify patients in your practice that will benefit from basic nutritional counseling.
  • Determine patient risk factors and whether a patient would benefit from a more in-depth dietary review.
  • Identify oral conditions that may be related to poor dietary intake.
  • Understand the relationship between obesity and oral health.
  • Relate the impact of dietary choices to your dental patients.
  • Manage dental nutrition issues either by direct patient guidance or appropriate referral.
  • Work with nutrition professionals as multidisciplinary team members in patient management.

Who Should Attend
Dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants who would like to implement nutrition education in their professional dental practice and incorporate sound nutritional practices into their personal lives.

Dental EducationLisa F. Mallonee, MPH, RDH, RD, LD received a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene and a Master of Public Health with a coordinated degree in nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to becoming a Registered Dietitian, Lisa practiced full time as a Registered Dental Hygienist in both general and public health practice settings.

Lisa is a tenured Professor, Graduate Program Director and Registered Dietitian at Texas A&M University College of Dentistry, Caruth School of Dental Hygiene where she currently teaches courses in public/community health and provides nutrition lectures in the dental hygiene and predoctoral dental curriculum, and oversees practicum placement and thesis research as co-director in the College of Medicine’s Education for Healthcare Professionals graduate program. Additionally she serves as a preceptor for the Baylor University Medical Center Dietetic internship program. As a health care professional and educator, she is committed to two interconnected goals: sharing her knowledge, expertise, and passion while promoting the value of interprofessional collaboration among dental professionals within the wider health care community for greater patient/client outcomes.

Lisa serves as a reviewer and expert content advisor on numerous publications which include: The Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Journal of the American Dental Association, the Journal of Dental Hygiene and organizations such as the National Diabetes Education Program, National Maternal & Child Oral Health Resource Center and the American Dental Educators Association (ADEA). Lisa is a published author in dental textbooks and peer reviewed journals on multiple topics pertaining to diet, nutrition and oral health and the practical application to whole body health for dietetic and dental professionals. She coauthored the Nutrition Curriculum for the revised 2015 edition of the ADEA Curriculum Guidelines for Allied Dental Education Programs. Additionally, she served as primary author for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Practice Paper on Oral Health and Nutrition. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Nutrition Education of Health Professionals award and the 2016 Texas Dental Hygiene Directors’ Association/Proctor & Gamble Teaching Excellence Award. Lisa presents educational lectures both nationally and internationally.