What we are doing in dentistry today is vastly different from the care patients received 30 years ago. Technology is always going to change. But the biggest changes aren’t necessarily about computing or 3D or nanorobots. One of the most significant changes in dentistry is the attention we dentists pay to the medical health of our patients. An assessment of our patients starts with taking vital statistics (blood pressure, pulse, blood oxygen concentration, temperature). We review medical conditions and medications being taken. Then we do an assessment of the head and neck before we enter the mouth for a dental… [ Read More ]

Dr. Rafoth wrote the following summary of this article:  The American Journal of Cardiology and Journal of Periodontology Editors’ Consensus, Vincent E. Friedewald, et. al., 7/2009  The human organism is complex. Abnormalities of almost any of its parts or processes have profound effects on multiple other body areas, exemplified by the process of inflammation. In recent years, the immune system, once believed to be only a vital defense against infection and a promoter of healing—except in the instances of a few uncommon connective tissue disorders—is now recognized as a significant active participant in many chronic inflammatory diseases (ID), including hypertension, diabetes,… [ Read More ]