In an effort to continue raising awareness about the mouth-body connection and highlight the critical role oral health plays in supporting good health outcomes, Center for Oral Health releases a new brief that examines the two-way interrelation of periodontal disease and diabetes mellitus.
“Diabetes Mellitus and Oral Health: Ignoring the Evidence May be a Costly Mistake” provides a brief introduction about diabetes mellitus and periodontal disease and how they often coexist and are pervasively correlated. The brief highlights the current ineffective public policies the United States has in place, and different scientific studies that have been conducted examining the treatment of periodontal disease that can lead to a reduction in healthcare costs, hospital admissions, and health improvements for patients with Type II diabetes.
The authors make 4 recommendations as next steps to address this problem and encourage policy-makers and administrators at the federal and state levels to support an integrated approach to healthcare that includes better understanding of the mouth-body connection, better oral health care coverage, and closer collaboration between medicine and dentistry in order to improve health outcomes, provide patient-centered care, and reduce costs of healthcare.
This issue brief is a joint effort of the Center for Oral Health and Western University of Health Sciences. This publication is funded in part by a grant from The California Wellness Foundation and Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals. This work is part of the Center’s portfolio of research focusing on the integration of dental care and medical care.
Download “Diabetes Mellitus and Oral Health: Ignoring the Evidence May be a Costly Mistake” here.
About the Authors
Katherine Cohen, MSN, RN, PHN. MSN-E, Class of 2014. Western University of Health Sciences
Clinical Assistant Professor, Western University of Health Sciences
Family Nurse Practitioner student, Western University of Health Sciences
Conrado E Bárzaga, MD
Executive Director, Center for Oral Health, Pomona, California, USA
Adjunct Faculty, Western University of Health Sciences.
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