An ongoing and open exchange between oral-health providers and family physicians can effectively improve the quality of their patients' treatment and wellbeing, and in certain cases even save lives.
Reviewed by Megan Craig, M.Sc.Oct 10 2023 The closer the collaboration between dental and general practitioners, the bigger the improvement in their patients' treatment standards, particularly in relation to serious chronic conditions such as diabetes, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
In 2022, 18 experts from the EFP and WONCA Europe examined the role of family physicians and the oral-health team and formulated a series of recommendations for both groups of clinicians. Their conclusions were published in a scientific consensus report published earlier this year in the EFP-edited Journal of Clinical Periodontology.
"In light of our recent findings, it is imperative to recognize that periodontitis transcends its localized origins in the oropharynx," highlights Shlomo Vinker, president of WONCA Europe. "Instead, it emerges as a condition intimately intertwined with broader systemic disease states. To address this paradigm shift, the collaboration between dentists and family doctors becomes paramount.