HEALTHY MOUTHS IN SICK KIDS: Strategies for Oral health and adjuncts in Immunocompromised Patients

Maintaining oral health in children with immunecompromise is challenging. The practitioner must understand medications, diet, measures of immune function, and special behavioral concepts. This presentation will discuss all of these in the context of ready to implement oral health strategies and how to have discussions with medical teams in order to have oral health an equal priority in overall health.

Learning Objectives:
- Describe how immunecompromise impacts basic oral homeostasis
- Discuss (3) strategies to incorporate oral health practices into overall health maintenance
- Understand how to communicate with medical teams; Physicians, nurses, dieticians, respiratory therapists, occupational and physical therapy.

  • Course Code:T4
    Note this course code to save time when registering
  • Day:Thursday
  • Time:9:00 AM-10:59 AM
  • CE Credit:2
  • Type Of Course:Dental/Medical Subjects
  • Fee:Free With Registration
  • Location:Cira C
  • Audience:
    Dentist Dental Hygienist Dental Assistant
  • Seating Taken:
    46%
Speaker: Dr. Sarat Thikkurissy

Dr. Sarat Thikkurissy

S. Thikkurissy, DDS, MS, MA, is Professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in both the Division of Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics and the Division of Bone Marrow Transplant & Immune Deficiency. Thikkurissy obtained his D.D.S. from New York University. He was active duty in the U.S. Air Force for eight years: including serving as chief of pediatric dentistry at Ramstein AFB in Germany. Thikkurissy obtained his certificate in pediatric dentistry/master's degree from The Ohio State University. Thikkurissy is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and chair of the AAPD Committee on Sedation and Anesthesia. He also serves on the AAPD Executive Committee as Parliamentarian. In 2017, he was named the AAPD Pediatric Dentist of the Year award, in 2019, he was named the Aubrey Rose Foundation's 'Above and Beyond Doctor' for his work with special needs populations, and in 2025, he was awarded the AAPD Merle Hunter Leadership Award. He has lectured nationally and internationally and has published in the areas of morbidity of dental disease, procedural sedation, and oral health in hematologic and bone marrow transplantation.