Webinar: Dentists, physicians can work together to foster cardiovascular health

Free offering streams June 26

A free ADA webinar in late June will describe how the dentist and physician can collaborate to encourage cardiovascular prevention and emphasize the oral-systemic connection.

The Heartbeat of Dentistry: Integrating CV Screening and Wellness Checks in Dental Visits will stream June 26 at noon Central time and is approved for one hour of continued education credit.

Presented by the ADA Council on Advocacy for Access and Prevention, the webinar will explain how routine wellness exams with a dental hygienist are an opportunity to educate patients on the importance of oral health as it relates to systemic health. The exams can provide meaningful screening tools that assist in identifying markers of disease and disease risk, considering that statistics show that patients will routinely visit their primary dental provider more frequently than their primary medical provider.

The presenters will explain how carotid ultrasound scans can be easily performed by a dental hygienist, take minimal chair time and can provide information that may just save a life.

The presenters are Kathryn Kosten, D.M.D., director of community dentistry and clinical assistant professor in the section of pediatric dentistry at Southern Illinois University’s School of Dental Medicine; Craig Backs, M.D., past president of the Illinois State Medical Society among other leadership roles, including chief medical officer at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois; and Becky Ironwing, a registered dental hygienist whose passion is helping her patients identify how their oral health is impacting their cardiovascular health and how sleep disordered breathing affects their quality of life.

After the webinar, attendees will be able to understand the role of carotid ultrasound in identifying early signs of cardiovascular disease; know how carotid ultrasound can be implemented into routine hygiene appointments within a dental practice; and be able to describe how the dentist and physician can collaborate to encourage cardiovascular prevention and emphasize the oral-systemic connection.