Oral-systemic connection focus of October JADA supplement
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Posted Oct. 2, 2006 |
The study of oral-systemic disease connections is a "rapidly advancing area of research," with new information "constantly appearing in the literature," notes Dr. Michael L. Barnett, guest editor of a supplement on oral-systemic disease packaged with the October issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association  and now available online .
Titled "The Oral-Systemic Disease Connection: An Update for the Practicing Dentist," the 40-page supplement explores the link between oral disease and pregnancy complications, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia and diabetes. It also looks at the challenges related to interpreting epidemiological studies.
The JADA supplement is made possible through an educational grant from the Colgate-Palmolive Co. Dentists can earn up to two continuing education credit hours by reading the supplement and completing a CE exam.
In his introduction to the supplement, Dr. Barnett traces interest in the oral-systemic disease connection to the focal infection theory that gained some acceptance in the late 19th century but fell out of favor in the 1930s.
"Much of the evidence in support of the concept of focal infection proved, on closer inspection, to be anecdotal or of questionable scientific merit," writes Dr. Barnett, a clinical professor in the Department of Periodontics/Endodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Then in the late 1980s, he notes, "a series of publications regarding the association between periodontitis and some systemic conditions, especially coronary heart disease and, to a lesser degree, stroke and preterm birth/low birth weight, captured the attention of the dental profession."
In a sense, observes Dr. Barnett, rising interest in the oral-systemic connection can be seen as a return to the focal infection theory.
Other experts contributing to the supplement include Drs. Yiorgos A. Bobetsis, Silvana P. Barros, Steven Offenbacher, Ryan T. Demmer, Moise Desvarieux, Frank Scannapieco, Brian L. Mealey and Jeffrey J. Hyman.
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