You Have a Medical Disease of the Mouth

I like to joke with my patients by saying, “I don’t know if you know this, but your mouth is actually connected to your body”. Because dentistry and medicine don’t always cross paths, we can forget that what happens in the body can manifest signs and symptoms in the mouth.
I like to joke with my patients by saying, “I don’t know if you know this, but your mouth is actually connected to your body”. Because dentistry and medicine don’t always cross paths, we can forget that what happens in the body can manifest signs and symptoms in the mouth. Conversely, inflammation in the mouth can exacerbate systemic disease. The dental hygiene profession has based its existence on prevention and education of disease. I feel, at times, we have lost...
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Do we Know Why Patients Don’t Comply?

I was just reading an interesting article about compliance. Lack of compliance is one of the biggest enemies we fight in our profession. How do we get our patients to actually perform our recommendations? First, we need to understand why they don’t always comply.
            I was just reading an interesting article about compliance.  Lack of compliance is one of the biggest enemies we fight in our profession.  How do we get our patients to actually perform our recommendations?  First, we need to understand why they don’t always comply.                 The study outlined in the article, found that half of all patients fail to follow a clinician’s instructions.  This is mainly due to one or a combination of the following reasons:  Fear—Not...
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