Beyond the Tonsils: Dentists & Dental Hygienists as Non-Physician Primary Care Providers Part 1

As the US population continues to expand, there will be a greater number of people who live with chronic diseases. With the shortage of primary healthcare providers (e.g., physicians and nurses), detection and management of these diseases poses a challenge for our current healthcare delivery system. The concept of Non-Physician Primary Care Providers* provides an alternative approach to meeting the needs of these at-risk populations. By practicing top-of-your-license, oral healthcare providers (OHCPs) are uniquely positioned to provide many primary care services including using questionnaires, visual examination, manual measurements and salivary diagnostics to screen patients for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, poor glycemic control, HPV, HIV, hypertension, dermatological lesions, various cancers, and biometric health, among other things.

This course explores medical screening in the dental setting that has the potential to improve early detection and preventive interventions of many chronic diseases and conditions. The challenges to implementing these primary care services into the traditional practices of dentists and dental hygienists will also be discussed. Participants will weigh in on the role of oral healthcare providers in medical screening, and strategies to overcome the challenges in implementing these primary care services.

Indeed, we are entering a new era in healthcare when medical-dental integration is evolving. The expectation is that OHCPs will become more involved in the early diagnosis, risk assessment and management of various medical conditions. Failure to embrace this change would forfeit one of the greatest opportunities we have ever had to define ourselves within the healing arts.