BOS 1 – Healthy Longevity
What Centenarians teach us about designing better interventions.
The interplay of inflammation regulation, metabolic health and psychosocial resilience – the core message of this session – coincides directly with the oral-systemic health paradigm. Low chronic inflammation is both the characteristic of successful longevity (SWISS100) and the goal of professional prevention in the oral cavity.
The FINGER logic (world’s first randomized controlled evidence that a multidimensional lifestyle prevents cognitive decline) – simultaneous, multimodal intervention instead of singular measures – is the methodological foundation for integrated prevention programs.
Hosts:
Prof. Dr. Daniela Jopp
Prof. Dr. Janne Martikainen
BOS 2 – Brainpower
Why do people often fail to act in favor of their long-term health, even when they know what would be beneficial?
In this interdisciplinary breakout session, behavioral economist Prof. Bartling and Fabia Bachmann explore the gap between knowledge and action from two complementary perspectives: human decision-making and neurobiology. Using interactive experiments, Prof. Bartling will demonstrate how heuristics, biases, and behavioral architecture shape our everyday decisions — often in ways that undermine
prevention and long-term health behavior.
Building on this perspective, Fabia Bachmann will introduce the concept of neuroplasticity and explain why the brain remains biologically adaptable throughout life. She will further explore how movement, stress regulation and social connection shape brain health and resilience across the lifespan. Together, the session offers a science-based perspective on why prevention is difficult — and why it is still profoundly worth pursuing.
Hosts:
Fabia Bachmann, BSc, Cand. MSc
Prof. Dr. Björn Bartling
BOS 3 – AI in Prevention
Why AI needs both a clinical framework and a patient voice.
AI tools for oral health risk assessment or systemic prevention screening will only have impact if clinicians integrate them into workflow (Dr. C. Jacob’s domain) and patients understand what they mean and act on them
(L. Castro Aragon’s domain). The combined framework from this session is directly applicable to evaluating any digital prevention tool in those programs – including AI-assisted caries risk scoring, periodontal health monitoring, or longevity screening algorithms.
Hosts:
Dr. Christine Jacob
Mrs. Larisa Castro Aragon MBA
BOS 4 – Food for Thought
What your gut actually wants on the plate. Participants leave with a taste memory, not just a slide deck. And the fact that Prof. H. Daniel is present to challenge Chef D. Geisser’s choices in real time is what distinguishes it from a cooking demonstration: it is a live negotiation between science and craft.
The oral microbiome and the gut microbiome are not separate systems – they share species, they communicate, and dysbiosis in one is frequently associated with dysbiosis in the other. The same dietary principles Prof. H. Daniel presents for the gut – plant diversity, fermented foods, polyphenols – are also the dietary conditions most likely to support a balanced oral microbiome. The amuse bouche Chef Geisser designs are therefore not just a gut story with one additional framing, it becomes a whole-body microbiome argument, directly relevant to the prevention philosophy that AVOLA represents.
Hosts:
Prof. em. Dr. Hannelore Daniel
Mr. David Geisser (Chef)
BOS 5 – Put Function First
Orofacial fitness as the gateway to nutrition, autonomy and quality of life in old age.
This session is a keystone of the day, translating previous insights on health behaviours and biological targets into a focus on orofacial fitness as a driver of nutrition, social participation and quality of life in older adults. Chewing ability is strongly linked to malnutrition risk, diet quality and meal enjoyment, and complex prosthetic work alone will not restore function if brain plasticity, motor skills and daily resources are overlooked.
Hosts:
Prof. Dr. Martin Schimmel
Dr. Ramona Buser
BOS 6 – Prioritize Prevention
Prevention beyond dentistry: Microbiomes and the future of care.
The session explores the mouth as gateway to broader health and prevention. By connecting oral-systemic health, microbiomes, early detection, behaviour change, and prevention-oriented care models, we aim to stimulate a mindset shift from treatment-driven healthcare towards an integrated prevention ecosystem.
Aleks Milosavljevic – Oral-Systemic Health & Prevention.
Periodontitis beyond the mouth: linking periodontal inflammation, systemic
health and prevention.
Giselle Richterich – No Symptoms Yet? Why wait until you are sick?
Microbiomes, early detection & sustainable care. Drawing from GutSense
and prevention-oriented healthcare models.
Marta Mazur – No Magic Pill, Just Daily Biofilm: Prevention in Everyday Life.
Oral hygiene, microbiome modulation and prevention as lifestyle medicine.
Hosts (all members of AVOLA ASSOCIATE BOARD):
Dr. Marta Mazur
Dr. Selma Dervisbegovic
Dr. Raman Kaur Preet
Dr. Giselle Richterich
Dr. Céline Lehnherr
Dr. Aleksandar Milosavljevic
BOS 7 – Hearts and Habits
The magic of prevention that sticks.
The AVOLA Declaration’s founding premise is that prevention is not a clinical event but a social and behavioral infrastructure. This session provides the psychological theory of change that AVOLA requires to move from policy to practice. The habit-formation and identity-anchoring framework is precisely the mechanism by which prevention programs achieve population-level durability. Without this layer, every upstream intervention leaks.
M. Araújo and A. Costa are among the clearest articulators of why iTOP works – not because it provides better tools, but because it creates the conditions for self-determined behavior. The Abra-Ka-Brush seminar is a live prototype of what oral prevention can become at scale: not a product training platform, but a behavioral design laboratory. This session legitimizes and extends that positioning across the full professional education portfolio.
Hosts:
Prof. Dr. Mário Rui Araújo, PhD, MPSych, BSDH
Afonso Costa, MPharm, Magician