Concerned about heart health?

Go see your dentist.

Brush and floss at least twice a day. While that’s the sound advice you’d expect to hear from your dentist, you might be surprised to hear it coming from your medical provider.

said Amy Doneen, D.N.P., co-founder of the

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Method for the prevention of arterial disease. “We have published that highrisk periodontal pathogens contribute to the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis (Postgraduate Medicine, 2017) and oral health issues are often behind the inflammation we see with arterial disease.”

It comes down to communication. Make sure your dentist has a complete medical history, including the names and dosages of all the drugs you are taking for your cardiovascular condition. This will help your dentist determine the best dental treatments for you.

Next, share the name and number of all of your doctors with your dentist, especially your cardiologist.

“We can reach out to patients’ cardiologists before pursuing certain dental treatments to ensure patient safety,” said Deepika Dhama, DDS. “We are also often the first to notice changes that can affect a person’s heart health. We can share that information with a patient’s doctor or encourage our patients to reach out to their cardiologists for follow-up care.”

This collaborative approach to care can make all the difference, especially because the sophisticated imaging technologies used in dentistry increasingly catch “incidental” evidence of arterial disease and other cardiovascular conditions.

“One of our patients who has a family history of premature coronary artery disease came to our office for an emergency dental visit. Our cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), the advanced imaging system that we use at all Smile Generation®-trusted offices, pinpointed the source of our patient’s pain but also discovered carotid calcification,” said Melissa Stroup, DDS of Falcon Park Dental Group in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

“Carotid calcification is a well-known marker of atherosclerosis and is linked to a high rate of heart disease and death. 2 ”

That patient was referred to a cardiologist for treatment and is now doing well.

“Working together – the patient, the dentist and the cardiologist – we can ensure better oral health and better heart health. This goes a long way to maximizing our shared patients’ highest possible quality of life,” said Dr. Stroup.

“The message to patients is that you might not know that you have an underlying medical condition, but you do know how long it has been since you’ve seen your dentist,” Dr. Doneen said. “By maintaining your oral health, you can prevent the kind of inflammatory conditions that put you at higher risk for cardiac disease. By encouraging patients to take simple steps – staying on top of your oral health, for instance – we can help them prevent a catastrophic disease. Nothing in the practice of medicine is more fulfilling than that.”