Do you think there’s a relationship between dental health and overall health? There is! It’s a topic that’s receiving lots of attention as more is learned about this interesting connection. People of all ages and from all cultures are impacted, and periodontal disease, which is the inflammation and infection of your gums and the bone surrounding your teeth, is largely blind to “social standing”. Other factors are at play. Doctors are now more routinely referring patients with compromised oral health to dentists, and dentists are referring patients with identified potential health problems to doctors. It’s hard to imagine that right here in Greenwich, CT we have many folks with untreated dental problems…and they come from all areas of town. Our Sterling Health Radio Show focused on just this issue last week with Dr. Ken Temple, DDS and Dr. Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH as our guests.
Have you ever wondered what dentists are looking for when they ask about your health history or the medicines you’re taking? Well, they’re checking to see if you’re at risk for complications that could arise when you have dental procedures as simple as a screening or cleaning your teeth. They’re also probing to see if you have conditions such as mitral valve prolapse or other heart or blood vessel disease, joint or other types of implants, lung disease, or diabetes just to name a few. These could predispose some people to complications during a dental procedure. Some high-risk people simply need to take antibiotics in preparation for a visit to the dentist. You could be one of them. The take home message here is if you have a health condition, and your dentist or hygienist forgets to take a health history, clue them in about any conditions you have. You know what they say about an informed consumer. You need to act as though your life depended on it, because it could! A strong link has been established between heart and blood vessel disease and poor dental health, so we used National Heart Month to discuss these two issues together with an expert cardiologist/internist and dentist.
So what causes these disease complications in some susceptible people? It’s bacteria that get into the blood stream from tiny openings in the gums that occur during dental procedures. In 2000, the Surgeon General attributed the onset of life-threatening diseases that result in millions of death each year to poor and untreated dental health problems. Doesn’t that shock you?
Some other interesting issues we discussed were the effects of smoking on oral health (all bad) and the fact that there are indications that pregnant women with periodontal disease may be at risk for premature deliveries or giving birth to a low birth-weight babies. So here’s another take home message. If you’re thinking about getting pregnant, go see your dentist! How’s that for a strange connection?
Finally, we discussed some cutting edge thinking about expanded roles for dentists in improving overall health. Your dentist could be checking your blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, as well as your saliva. As it turns out, many things can be measured in your saliva, such as hormones, medications, and disease producing germs. This makes saliva a rapid and excellent source of bio-markers for the early detection of all kinds of diseases. So, with February being National Heart Month, we urge you to take this opportunity to get your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar checked, and schedule a physical, along with a dental exam, for you and your loved ones. If you want more information on this subject you can find them on our the website for the Sterling Health Show at www.sterlingcare.com where you can listen to our interview with Dr. Ken Temple, DDS and Dr. Glenn Gandelman, MD, MPH of February 10, 2010 and link to additional resources on this subject.
Wishing you days of Sterling Health
Steve Katz and Stephanie Paulmeno
