Join the course that will create a real shift in your patients’ oral-care routines.
As you leave your dental office you think about your day – satisfied patients and perfect dental work once again. But you can’t stop thinking of that one patient who received the best possible treatment just a few months ago, who today came back with a number of complications. The reason? Insufficient biofilm management. And it makes you wonder – how can you improve your patients’ home oral-care routines to protect your work? Well, there might just be a way.
With iTOP you finally have the chance to learn how to successfully change your patients’ habits and views on the importance of daily biofilm management, show them the right techniques, and strengthen their motivation to use them.
The individually-trained oral prophylaxis (iTOP) programme gives you great support in how to overcome the daily challenges your patients face once they leave your dental office.
Its Touch-to-Teach (T2T) approach allows you to understand your patients’ experience first hand – particularly with regards to discussing habits and behaviour – and it also helps you understand how to instruct and motivate your patients so that they’ll really follow your advice.
On top of that – the courses take place in wonderful environment and with a great community of like-minded colleagues.
Help your patients change their habits
iTOP participants frequently state that the course has changed their own perception of the importance of correct biofilm control, the way they talk about it to their patients, and has exceeded their expectations of a high-level training that will benefit both their clinic and their patients.
According to dental professionals who have already attended, iTOP is a school for a new generation of dental professionals – a place where biofilm control meets behaviour change.
At iTOP seminars, participants experience a balanced combination of the latest up-to-date scientific knowledge and practical hands-on training for daily biofilm management using different techniques and tools, with the clear aim of providing optimal biofilm control for each individual case.
The course with practical benefits for your dental practice
During the first level of the iTOP programme – iTOP introductory – dental professionals deepen their know-how on the complex issues of biofilm mechanics in relation to patient motivation, practice their own biofilm-management skills, and learn tools and techniques that will support them in their daily work.
The course brings a number of practical benefits to its participants, both from a clinical and economic perspective. Thanks to a new perception of their oral health, your patients will benefit even more from your high-quality work, which will lead to further recall appointments, recommendations and patient loyalty in general. The iTOP training will also allow you to provide biofilm-management instructions as a chargeable service, and running a clinic with a concept of prophylaxis at the highest, individual level will distinguish your dental practice from others.
The course is usually a full one-day event, in which participants learn both the research-based background and, even more importantly, the practical aspects of biofilm control via the Touch-to-Teach(T2T) method.
The best understanding comes from an optimal balance of knowledge and hands-on experience.
The iTOP programme is innovative because it is based around gaining exceptional practical experience – with the opportunity to test the techniques in a live setting.
Hands-on sessions are led by experienced instructors, and training is performed in a way that all participants get a chance to experience the patient’s journey first-hand. In some courses we also bring patients to the sessions so the practical aspects can be expanded to real-life situations.
What makes iTOP so positively perceived by dental professionals is the fact that it has been developed thanks to the pioneering approach and passion of MU Dr. Jiří Sedelmayer, the creator of the course. He spent 25 years as a clinical teacher and researcher at the UKE Hamburg. Early in his clinical career he questioned his own work and thought about ways to improve the education of future dental professionals. Sedelmayer developed a programme to teach his students the optimal biofilm control techniques, which is now known as iTOP. Sedelmayer’s methods have been taught both nationally and internationally. He led more than 1,100 training seminars and courses worldwide.
Who will be your guide throughout the programme?
The seminar is always led by certified iTOP dental professionals with years of experience in training their colleagues and patients.
The iTOP lecturers leading the seminars are all certified professionals from the dentistry field – periodontists, dental surgeons, orthodontists, general practitioners, dental hygienists and more, all of whom adopt a personal approach, dedicated to every participant during the seminar. The practical, Touch-to-Teach part is provided by the iTOP instructors –certified professionals who have successfully finished the iTOP Educator course and are regularly re-certified.
How is iTOP helping dental professionals in their daily practice?
Elna Van Der Ham, iTOP lecturer, South Africa
“I have implemented the iTOP philosophy and techniques in my practice with great success, thus empowering both myself and my patients to achieve excellent daily biofilm-management routines and ultimately reducing the systemic impact that derives from bad oral health. There is scientific evidence to back up the iTOP philosophy and therefore I can, with great confidence, recommend iTOP to every clinician and patient.”
Dr. Jefferson Custodio, iTOP trained dental surgeon, Brazil
“I’m trying to help people to understand that simply brushing your teeth twice a day is not enough to ensure good oral health. I want them to understand that biofilm control must be carried out in a way suited to each individual case. This is the philosophy of individually trained oral prophylaxis (iTOP) created by Prof. Jiří Sedelmayer.”
Judith Weiss, international iTOP lecturer Switzerland
“Before iTOP I used to feel like a cleaning lady. Today I see myself as a coach who turns her clients into oral hygiene professionals. The change is so visible! My job has new purpose and I can never look at it the same way!”
What’s coming next? Levels of the iTOP programme
iTOP is a whole educational system consisting of several levels. It depends on your needs and aspirations – whether you want to learn iTOP to use it in your dental office and help your patients, or to become a trainer for other dental professionals. Different iTOP levels cover various aims.
