Workshop: Dental Emergencies and Procedures

Two months ago I would have wondered why a workshop on dental care was relevant to a medical conference. But having researched on the effects of dental problems for the past 7 weeks, I was delighted that such a workshop was included!

Why is dental care important to a family doctor?

• dental problems is the most common childhood disease (40% prevalence)!
• rural communities and minority groups often do not have access to dentists
• dental pain can interfere with intellectual, social, emotional development and daily functions
• even in places where there are dentists, family doctors often serve to screen for dental problems in check-ups
• the teeth are a part of the body and affect the rest of the body holistically; it cannot be looked at in isolation from the rest of the body by dentists only

The speaker was from rural Maine where almost no one has access to dental care and he does dental screening, extractions, anesthesia and other basic dental procedures. He spoke about diagnosing different dental problems and discussed that antibiotics are over prescribed by most medical doctors for dental problems when they are not effective.

To learn more about oral health to treat your future patients: www.fmdrl.org or stfm.org/oralhealth.