Co-Morbidity from

Periodontal Disease Tackled

by First Oral-Systemic

Health Conference

The University of Maryland in

Baltimore provided the venue

for the first ever oral-systemic

health conference Leading

representatives from various

allied medical sciences

including, nursing, dental

hygienists, and health

educators attended a

presentation of an oral systemic

cause linking varying ailments.

The conference sought to encourage the need for developing

collaborative treatment options for treating periodontal disease

which has been linked to other disease causing ailments and

conditions. Diseases, such as, diabetes, osteoporosis, anxiety,

mood and eating disorders, malnutrition, and certain forms of

cancer may be associated with other ailments that affect the oral

cavity, head and neck, according to current research quoted by

the conference speakers. Most of these diseases, such as,

osteoporosis may be life threatening and has the potential to

change a person’s life. If you want to read more about

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The commonalities involving the responsibilities

of differing health professionals, such as, dental

hygienists, nursing practitioners, and other inter-

related health professions suggests an oral-

systemic link previously unheard of. A shared

method for healthcare was expressed as needed

for promoting health and shared patient

outcomes of wellness, which creates more well-

rounded healthcare providers and addressing

issues of co-morbidity.

Having more than one disease condition aside from the primary

disorder is described as co-morbidity. Health insurance providers

often do not factor co-morbidity when calculating the costs of health

care, which the conference speakers attempted to rectify by raising

awareness as a legitimate problem facing many health care delivery

systems.

Certain cell and tissue invasive bacterial infections have been

believed to be at the center of oral-systemic linked co-morbidities,

such as, periodontal disease. Most of these infections are found in

different parts of the body and often times do not cause problems

but under the right circumstances may cause opportunistic

infections that may be another burden on a patient recovering from

a severe disease.

In some specific cases periodontal disease has been linked to rheumatoid arthritis and

even premature, low birth weight in a number of studies. If periodontal disease is

treated promptly, hospitalization costs may be lowered and birth complications for

pregnant mothers may also be decreased.

The lack of understanding among health care practitioners and health insurance

providers has contributed to the significant threat posed by co-morbidity of diseases like

periodontal disease. Health care professionals like, nurses, physical therapists, speech

pathologists, doctors and others often do not include ailments affecting oral health to be

relevant to diagnosing a patient’s problems. An expanded curriculum detailing diagnosis

and understand of oral health and its problems was proposed by health educator

speakers at the conference to enhance health care professionals understanding of oral-

systemic health conditions.

URL Reference:

news-medical.net/news/20121219/University-of-Maryland-Baltimore-hosts-first-national-

conference-on-oral-and-systemic-health.aspx