Delaware Journal of Public Health · 1 author, 1 centre
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This commentary argues that oral health is inextricably linked to systemic health, with the mouth often serving as an early indicator of underlying medical conditions. The author calls for greater integration of dentistry and medicine, emphasizing interdisciplinary care, innovation, and team-based approaches to optimize patient outcomes. The piece highlights the role of oral healthcare professionals in managing chronic diseases, sleep disorders, nutrition, and vaccination education.
This article is a commentary-style perspective piece that argues for the reintegration of dentistry and medicine, framing the mouth as a diagnostic window into systemic health. The author opens by noting that teeth are attached to a person with a unique background and story, and that although a division between dentistry and medicine has been created, the social determinants of health argue otherwise. The piece references the Surgeon General's report in 2000, which called for more extensive research exploring the connection between oral health and systemic diseases and emphasized the importance of oral health. It also situates the discussion within the framework of Healthy People 2030, which includes several goals surrounding oral conditions based on the understanding that a healthy mouth contributes to a healthy body.
This is not a clinical study but a narrative commentary. The author draws on established medical and dental knowledge to illustrate the connections between oral and systemic health. The piece uses the metaphor of two key dental instruments—the mirror and the explorer—to structure its argument: the mirror represents reflection on past and present knowledge, while the explorer represents the future direction of integrated care.
The author presents several key observations rather than original data. First, the mouth is often the first sign of a systemic condition or the only manifestation. Traditional examples include ulcerations in Crohn's disease, dry mouth in Sjogren's syndrome, and tissue inflammation in systemic lupus erythematosus. Second, oral and systemic health are connected through domains beyond traditional disease, including sleep, nutrition, and mental health. Oral healthcare professionals can help treat patients with sleep-related breathing disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea, act on interdisciplinary teams to enable chewing and swallowing for adequate nutrition, and create healthy smiles that may correlate with reduction in mental illness. Third, viruses such as human papillomavirus and COVID-19 can manifest orally, and oral healthcare professionals are moving to the forefront of educating patients about vaccination to lower the risk of certain cancers related to human papillomavirus (including oropharyngeal cancers) and lower mortality associated with COVID-19. The author notes that oral medicine is now one of the newly recognized American Dental Association specialties, focusing on chronic disease management, diagnosis and management of medically related diseases affecting the oral and maxillofacial region, and dentistry for medically complex patients.
The author argues for three pillars of progress: integration of medicine and dentistry with more open dialogue on patient care; innovation in the form of research, clinical practice guidelines, and technological advancements; and interdisciplinary approaches to care that include all expertise. The piece emphasizes that collaboration, creativity, and community will push patient-centered care to the forefront. The author concludes that these tenants will allow better exploration of how the health of the mouth and the health of the body are truly connected. The commentary serves as a call to action for healthcare professionals to adopt a team-based approach to optimize patient health.