Building bridges with dentistry: NICE guideline supports collaborative practice between GPs and dentists

Abstract

The title of this article may suggest a discussion surrounding missing teeth and intra-oral prosthetics. However, this article is intended to discuss a broader topic, one that has gained increased coverage across academic journals in recent years: the integration of oral health into primary care.The integration of oral health into primary care is still a relatively new initiative worldwide. In the US, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has shown its support for a new model of care that promotes the integration of oral health into primary care. This model was outlined in the Oral Health Delivery Framework (OHDF). 1 The OHDF aims to support GPs to incorporate some oral health practices such as: promoting oral health, identifying risk factors for oral disease, providing patient education, and developing referral networks to support collaborative practice with dentists. 1 The potential benefits of collaborative practice are perhaps most pertinent among specific populations such as children, pregnant women, older adults, and people with chronic systemic diseases, for example diabetes. 1 In the UK, previous studies have suggested that GPs and dentists should collaborate more to improve the early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). [2][3] It has been shown that patients who have regular dental check-ups are more likely to have OSCC diagnosed at an earlier stage. 4 However, only 50.4% of the UK adult population was seen by an NHS dentist in the 24 months prior to

Perceptions and Practices of General Practitioners towards Oral Cancer and Emerging Risk Factors among Indian Immigrants in Australia: A Qualitative Study

“…This study also implies that GPs could adopt patient-specific decision-making strategies in their clinical practices for the identification of oral cancer through opportunistic screening of high-risk populations such as Indian immigrants who are known to be engaged in tobacco and/or alcohol consumption or chew betel/areca nut [ 73 , 74 ]. Being the primary contact for accessing healthcare, it becomes more crucial for GPs to engage in duties of oral cancer prevention counselling, initial screening, and routine oral/mouth check-ups [ 75 ]. Moreover, as per the practice feasibility, one-to-one health advice by GPs to high-risk populations through preventive counselling can be very effective if tailored to individual cultures and circumstances.…”