Jan 11, 2008 7:38 pm US/Eastern
Dentists Use Blood Test To Detect Health Problems
A trip to the dentist's office is not all about your teeth and gums because medical experts say a lot can be said for overall health by looking inside your mouth.
Statistics show 75 percent of Americans will develop gum disease at some point in their lives, a condition that's caused by inflammation.
Experts say that inflammation sometimes goes hand in hand with other kinds of health problems. Now a dentist has developed a blood test to find out if you have other diseases that have gone undiagnosed.
"No matter what I did, patients were bleeding and it just came to me, maybe they have an underlying medical problem that's contributing to this," says Dr. Ron Schefdore.
He says bleeding gums are a sign of chronic inflammation and may be an early warning for serious disease. Dr. Schefdore says he does a simple three-drop blood test in the office to find out more.
"The three things that bloody gums raise in blood chemistries that we know of, is cholesterol, blood sugar and C-reactive protein," said Dr. Schefdore. "C-reactive protein is a more accurate indicator of a future heart attack or stroke than high cholesterol."
He says if the test results aren't good, he urges patients to see their doctor.
"The physicians have diagnosed a high risk of heart attack or stroke, diabetes, pre-diabetes, and in some cases, cancer," says Dr. Schefdore.
Doctors say patients also follow a special at-home dental hygiene program and take anti-inflammatory nutrition supplements.
"There's not one magic bullet," adds Dr. Schefdore. "You put all these pieces together and that's how we're able to get people so well."
The doctor says he hopes to see blood screening become part of standard dental care in the future.
Visit this link for more information:
HealthyHeartDentistry.com
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