03/21/2024

Heart Group Builds Partnership Around Early Disease Detection

These collaborations can benefit countless people

The American Heart Association has launched a partnership with Delta Dental to support early detection of heart disease.

Healthy Hearts, Healthy Smiles, an initiative announced last month, leverages the ability of dentists’ offices to notice signs of heart disease; for instance, chronic gum inflammation can be associated with coronary artery disease, stroke, and diabetes. That knowledge, combined with the fact that fewer Americans have paid regular visits to primary-care doctors since the pandemic, encouraged the association to pursue the program. According to a release regarding the program, approximately 27 million patients visit a dentist annually but not another physician.

“We are constantly thinking about how we can get further upstream into primary care settings to prevent heart disease and prevent the progression of diseases,” said Juliana Crawford, National Vice President of Consumer Health Solutions at AHA. “Dentists are uniquely positioned—they are already doing high blood pressure screenings, or at least taking a reading. But are they talking to a patient about it, or not? They’re probably not, but they could, and it wouldn’t be difficult.”

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.