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Bleeding gums can be a key early-warning sign for over 20 serious medical disorders, including diabetes, heart disease, pre-diabetes, Hodgkin's lymphoma and cancers of the colon and other organs. And which doctor is best positioned to notice bleeding gums? The dental doctor, of course!
In addition, according to Dr. Ronald Schefdore, a Chicago dentist with over 25 years of experience, people usually visit their dentist more often than their doctor.
So this puts the dentist in a good spot to give those of his patients whom he suspects may be in the early stages of serious illness a simple, three-drop in-office blood test to confirm or deny his suspicions. The simple blood-testing kits, which contain a patient release form in addition to the test materials, are convenient, affordable and approved by the Food and Drug Administration. They test for C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation.
A year's worth of studies by Schefdore shows that more than 20 percent of the periodontal patients who received the blood tests from their dentists were then diagnosed by their doctors with high risk for heart attack or stroke, diabetes or another grave medical condition.
"If patients, physicians, and dentists would work together, it would be better health for Americans almost overnight," Schefdore said. He and several thousand other dentists believe millions of lives could be saved each year if the practice were universally adopted.
Schefdore said he wants to make the blood screening standard dental care within the next five years. "This could save a lot of lives," he said.
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