Prevention Matters

In the national effort to lower health care costs by preventing chronic disease and hospitalizations, dentists may be an important part of the solution. A nationwide survey published in the January 2010 issue of the JADA (The Journal of the American Dental Association) reports that dentists would be willing to screen their patients for medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases when they come to the office for dental care. More than three-quarters of the 1,945 dentists who responded thought it was important for them to screen for hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, with a majority indicating they would be willing to check patients also for hepatitis and HIV.