In my dedication to discussing and expanding the horizons of dental discussion, today I’d like to talk about more systemic conditions.
It’s a fact a significant portion of the population must deal with a systemic condition, and their access to dental care is as valuable as those without.
A comprehensive periodontal evaluation of your patient should be performed with regard to conditions suggestive of systemic disorders, such as:
Physical disabilities;
- Signs or symptoms of xerostomia, mucocutaneous lesions, gingival overgrowth, excessive gingival haemorrhage, or other indicators of undetected or poorly-controlled systemic disease;
- Therapeutic drug use;
- Signs or symptoms of smoking, chemical dependency, and other addictive habits;
- History of recent or chronic diseases;
- Evidence of psychological/emotional factors;
- History of familial systemic disease.
You should also request laboratory tests as appropriate and, when warranted, referral to or consultation with other health care providers should be made.
Your therapeutic goal should be to achieve a degree of periodontal health consistent with the patient’s overall health status.
Treatment outcome in the patient with contributing systemic factors may be directly affected by the control of the systemic condition.
The systemic and psychological status of the patient should be identified to reduce medical risks that may compromise or alter the periodontal treatment.
A patient with systemic conditions that contribute to progression of periodontal diseases can successfully be treated utilizing well-established periodontal treatment techniques.
You should be aware, though, the systemic/psychological status of your patient may cause a change of the therapy planned and may also have an adverse affect on the treatment outcomes.
As ever, I welcome any discussion on this topic. Feel free to leave a comment here, or get in touch on social media:
