WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Dentists detecting more than cavities

December 16, 2011

Basya Segal visits her dentist more than she sees her primary care physician.

"I just saw him and I hadn't seen him for two years," she said.

But she had seen her dentist much more recently.

A new study shows Segal is not alone. Twenty million Americans visit the dentist at least once a year, but do not see their doctor. New York University Researcher Shiela Strauss says the findings suggest dentists can do a lot more as health care providers.

"There is truly an opportunity for a dentist to do some screening," Strauss said. "And then can refer patients who screen positive for systemic disease to their primary care provider."

Researchers suggest dentists could take a patient's health history, check blood pressure and X-rays to detect potential health problems.

Getting dentists to screen patients for disease would add a few more minutes to the visit and experts say it would be relatively inexpensive.

Dentists have long known that the mouth is a window to the body's health.

"We can see oral cancers, we can see the signs of tobacco use, which require us to recommend tobacco cessation," said Dr. Mark Wolff of the NYU College of Dentistry.

They can also see gum disease, which can be an indicator of diabetes.

Segal is glad her dentist is looking out for her since she doesn't see her primary doctor as much as she'd like to.

"They can see a lot of things," she said. "I think it's a great idea."

Along with a clean smile, patients might also be able to get a clean bill of health.

The study also found that most Americans who didn't see their doctor had some form of health insurance, so they had access to health care but didn't use it.