Three Ways Your Dental Professional Can Unwrap The Story Of Your Health This Holiday Season

DELMONT, Pa., Dec. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Did you know that a dental x-ray can identify chronic heart disease?  This is just one of the ways that your dental professional can unwrap the story of your health this holiday season, says the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health (PCOH), the leading advocacy organization for improving oral health throughout the Commonwealth.

If you are like most Americans, your teeth and mouth have become second-class citizens to the rest of your body. We insure them, maintain them, and pay for their care differently.  Until recently, the relationship between your mouth and the rest of your body has been largely ignored. 

"Our overall health is closely connected to the condition of our mouth and teeth. Teamwork by physical, behavioral, and dental health professionals is critical," said PCOH board member Eve Kimball, MD, who is a Chapter Oral Health Advocate with the PA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. You may have heard the health of your mouth can be tied to heart disease or diabetes, but how important is that biannual checkup? PCOH suggests a few reasons why visiting your dental professional is a good way to start the new year right:

• Out-of-town relatives making you crazy? Your dental office may pick up on elevated blood pressure levels with your regular checkups. Many patients see the dentist more often than they schedule regular physicals, and it's a great way to monitor blood pressure changes.
• Eating too many of grandma's cookies? Regular dental x-rays can show more than just cavities and gum disease. A panoramic x-ray (Panorex) that includes your entire jaw on one film can pick up plaque deposits in the carotid artery in your neck. Heart disease can be caught in patients who had no idea they were even having a problem.
• Too much holiday punch has you sawing logs? Breathing disorders like sleep apnea can be first detected in a dental office by the size of your tongue, enlarged tonsils, and the shape of your palate.

PCOH believes that optimal oral health benefits all Pennsylvanians, and is essential to their overall health and wellness. PCOH advances policies and practices that increase access to oral health services, education, and prevention especially for our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians. Learn more at http://www.paoralhealth.org or call (724) 972-7242.

Helen Hawkey
PA Coalition for Oral Health
724.972.7242
[email protected]

SOURCE PA Coalition for Oral Health