Oral Health Integration: Your New Opportunity
INTEGRATIVE HEALTH
Amanda Just
MS and
Jack Kall
DMD, FAGD
While periodontal disease is increasingly being accepted by the mainstream medical community for its role in cardiovascular problems and diabetes, the effects of other dental conditions and materials on whole-body health have yet to be extensively recognized. In fact, the influence of dental conditions and materials on the rest of the human system (and vice versa) is neglected customarily by the vast majority of health practitioners.
Evidence of Need for Oral Health Integration
A number of recent reports have clearly established the urgency for oral health to be better integrated into public health. Healthy People 2020, a project of the United States government’s Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, has identified that a key area of public health improvement is to increase awareness of the importance of oral health to overall health and well-being.
One reason for this needed awareness is that millions of Americans have dental caries, periodontal disease, cleft lip and palate, oral and facial pain, and oral and pharyngeal cancers. The potential consequences of these oral conditions are far ranging. For example, periodontal disease is a risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, premature births, and low birth weights. Additionally, oral health problems in children can lead to attention deficits, difficulty in school, and dietary and sleep issues. Also, oral health problems in older adults can lead to disability and reduction in mobility. These are only a few examples of the known repercussions of impaired oral health on overall health.
In their 2011 report, Advancing Oral Health in America, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) warned that the separation of dental professionals from other healthcare professionals negatively influences patients’ health. Chairman of the Committee on Oral Health Initiative Richard Krugman stated, “The oral health system still largely depends on a traditional, isolated dental care model in the private practice setting—a model that does not always serve significant portions of the American population well.”
Interestingly, patients want this connection made, which researchers have noted. “As interest in integrative health care and the use of complementary and alternative therapies by consumers has continued to grow, concern has increased that health professionals be sufficiently informed about integrative health [so] that they can effectively care for patients.”
It is obvious that patients and practitioners mutually benefit from an integrated approach to oral health and public health. First, oral health conditions can be indicative of other health problems, including nutritional deficiencies, systemic diseases, microbial infections, immune disorders, injuries, and some forms of cancer. Next, patients enduring adverse symptoms from oral health conditions, such as infections, chemical sensitivities, temporomandibular joint disorders (TMJ), craniofacial pain, and sleep disorders, can clearly benefit from interprofessional collaboration.
However, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals are often not knowledgeable about oral health care, including recognition of oral diseases. This is in part because dental schools and dental education are completely separate from medical schools and medical education, with only one to two hours per year of family medicine programs allotted for dental health education.
The lack of education and training has wide-scale implications for public health. In addition to all of the conditions and scenarios previously mentioned, other consequences might not be as obvious. For instance, most patients with dental complaints seen by hospital emergency departments (ED) are usually suffering from pain and infection, and the lack of ED knowledge about oral health has been cited as a contributor to opiate dependency and antibiotic resistance.
The lack of awareness of oral health integration appears to be due to lack of opportunity. However, changes have been encouraged, such as Chairman of the Committee on Oral Health Initiative Richard Krugman’s advice: “More needs to be done to support the education and training of all healthcare professionals in oral health care and to promote interdisciplinary, team-based approaches.”
An Opportunity for Chiropractors to Integrate Collaboratively
Some progressive models and frameworks are forging a new future in oral health integration. For example, biological dentists recognize that the well-being of the mouth is an integral part of the health of the whole person, and most biological dentists actively seek other health practitioners with whom to collaborate as a means of better serving patients.
Biological dentists also utilize mercury-free and mercury-safe dentistry. Many people are unaware that mercury fillings are still being used in dentistry in the United States with no enforced FDA regulations for children or any other susceptible populations. Meanwhile, other countries have banned their use entirely or, at the very least, banned them for pregnant women and children.
While some innovative health practitioners recognize the potential benefits of recommending removal of a patient’s mercury fillings, many of them are unaware that having mercury fillings removed without safety precautions can be harmful to the patient, dentist, dental staff, and environment. It is crucial to know that biological dentists can be trained in the application of safety protocols for mercury-filling removal based on the most upto-date scientific literature.
Biological dentists are further trained to consider the safety and biocompatibility of all dental materials (including the utilization of allergy and sensitivity testing) to ensure the safest dental products and mercury-free alternatives are used for each patient. Most biological dentists appreciate the need for detoxification of heavy metals, an understanding of the risks of fluoride exposure, the far-ranging effects of periodontal disease, and the impact of root canal treatments and jawbone osteonecrosis on patient health. With that being said, they also understand the benefit of collaborating with chiropractors to assist them in helping patients get well.
Integrating oral health into practice offers insight into oral systemic connections that other health professionals will inevitably overlook. It also offers chiropractors an opportunity to bridge the medical gap that is separating the mouth from the rest of the body and patients from optimal health.
Amanda Just, MS, serves as the program director of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), and Jack Kail, DMD, FAGD, serves as the executive chair of the IAOMT Board of Directors. The IAOMT is committed to oral health integration and invites chiropractors to learn more at www.iaomt.org/chiro.
References
Contact Information: [email protected] or (863) 420-6373
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2. Ibid.
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