Many of your patients have already heard about the oral-systemic link. Maybe they understand what it means, maybe they don’t. Others are totally in the dark, ignorant to the research and media stories linking periodontal disease to overall health problems such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, low birth weight, and stroke.

No matter where the patient sitting in your chair falls, experts say it’s important to have a conversation about this connection and what it means. Some patients are making it easy for you to get started—our latest Survey Report indicates that 64% of respondents have noticed an increase in the number of patient questions about the link between periodontal disease and general health issues in the last three years, while 69% have noticed an increased awareness about periodontal disease and treatment in the same time period. Another 62% have seen an increase in their non-surgical perio/soft-tissue management caseload in the last three years.

Backed by these numbers, there’s a good chance that more patients are going to walk through your practice door armed with questions—and you need to have answers.

“Dentists should strive to keep abreast of this rapidly growing field and know what the state of information is,” said Dr. Robert Genco, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo. “They should be able to take the many relationships between perio and different health outcomes and put them into perspective.”

 

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