This past week I met with several dental teams and asked them about the “3 Ds” which now characterize their patient caseloads:
- Do you have diabetic patients?
- Do you have patients on diuretics?
- Do you have patients with a dry mouth?
In all meetings, there was instant agreement that many patients have one or more of the “3 Ds”.
The growing reality in aging Canada is that 1 in 5 older adults are diabetic, likely 1 in 5 are taking diuretics and more than half are taking 3 or more prescription drugs daily which puts them in the zone for a dry mouth.
So what?
We are experiencing an epidemic of cavities at the gum line — a common outcome of these conditions.
Cavities at the gum line are most untreatable with conventional dental care. A filling at the root of the tooth lasts maybe 3 years and then migrates into a root canal or an extraction. And you rarely get just one root cavity.
Dental benefits and procedures were not designed to manage this epidemic. New thinking and far more prevention are needed.
By: Ross Perry
SOURCED: Partners In Prevention – http://partnersinprevention.ca/the-new-3ds-of-dental-care/
