For years, dental professionals have been on the alert for special high risk patients: Sjogren’s, perhaps Parkinson’s, and head and neck cancer patients. Frequently, when I discuss Prevora with a new dental team, that’s the immediate thinking in the meeting — “this would be great for our Sjogren’s patients!” 
Fair enough. The stories we hear about how helpful Prevora is for Sjogren’s are heart-warming.
But it seems the community has moved beyond these special high risk groups. I am referring to the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes now hitting the waiting room. The rising prevalence of this chronic disease, as your community ages, is shown in the alarming chart below. Your patients in their early 40s have a 4% chance of diabetes but when they retire, their risks have increased to 21%.
And diabetic patients have more dental decay, particularly at the root surface. One study reported a 40% prevalence of root decay amongst diabetic patients versus 18.5% (p=0.001) amongst healthy patients. There was no difference in decay rates on the crown of the tooth between these two groups.
Seems we have more than Sjogren’s patients to manage these days!
By Ross Perry – http://partnersinprevention.ca/your-diabetic-patients-and-root-decay/
Sourced: Partners In Prevention
