Oral Systemic Health Story

Dentists can save lives, don’t ever doubt it!

Approximately 80% of adults have periodontal disease. And 90% of it is left untreated. To make matters worse, only 3% floss twice daily.

And now we find oral inflammation has a huge impact on cardiovascular disease.

Oral inflammation increases risk. You’re twice as likely to have a heart attack, three times as likely to have a stroke, and if you’re under the age of 35, you are four times as likely to have dementia later in life.

And individuals with severe periodontal disease are 4 times as likely to have a heart attack.

When you use the latest techniques for diagnosing and testing, and follow up with the proper treatment, you can change lives for the better! And your patients can start benefitting from the oral wellness techniques immediately.

Now, we all know heart attacks are the leading cause of death in the US. And oral systemic health has a major influence on this. As my respected colleague Dr. Bradley Bale, M.D., says, “One of the reasons heart attacks are not being prevented is because healthcare providers are not recognizing the link between cardiovascular disease and oral systemic health.” As a co-founder of the Bale/Doneen Method, Dr. Bale is a leading expert on the subject of the prevention of cardiovascular disease and an advocate or oral systemic health.

I know we all fear introducing anything new in our practices, but patients understand just how important this is. The most important asset anybody has is their health. And oral health is key to preserving it.

Studies show that patients are much more interested in maintaining their health than any else. They want to live full lives, see their children and grandchildren grow up with them.

Periodontal disease raises the risk for stroke enormously, and dentists are at the forefront of preventing it. The problem is that most don’t know it yet.

Like most healthcare professionals, you have the tools available now to prevent strokes. Unlike most doctors, you can be pro-active, not just reactive.

If you treat periodontal disease, you treat Lp-PLA2 and reduce strokes. It’s that simple: 50% of strokes can be avoided if dentists do their job.

Every 40 seconds in the United States, someone suffers a stroke – the number-one cause of disability. The connection between strokes and periodontal disease is enormous: If you have periodontal disease, it is 3 times more likely you’ll have a stroke.

Not me, you think. Well, yes you: 80% of the adult population has periodontal disease. So your patients are going to die young and horribly unless you treat their periodontal disease early and properly.

We are now an essential part of patients’ healthcare network—we are life savers! You can be a life saver, too.

There’s a way to move ahead and take action. Right now. Rather than recommending teeth whitening or adult orthodontics, test them. Refer out for the Lp-PLA2 blood test, the only one approved for stroke risk assessment. And periodontal disease is the only factor that increases Lp-PLA2. Treat periodontal disease properly and you prevent strokes.

A bright smile won’t prevent strokes. You can.

So take these 5 simple steps right now:

• Coordinate with a physician for Lp-PLA2 testing
• Quantify with salivary diagnostics MyPerioPath and MyPerioID PST
• Communicate with the physician, brainstorming disease risk and patient care
• Coordinate and treat properly
• Re-evaluate and quantify

Follow these 5 steps. When you treat periodontal disease properly, you are helping your patients enjoy longer, healthier lives.

Dentists have long been considered a second class citizen. It’s time for this to change, and I’m helping this happen across the country.

In the past, they have not been able to quantify the problem or the treatment. Now we can and are doing it every day. We no longer consider the mouth as a separate part of the body, it’s the most important part.

The mouth is where life begins. Let’s not let it end there!