Medical status of patients presenting for treatment at an Australian dental institute: a cross-sectional study
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Medical status of patients presenting for treatment at an Australian dental institute: a cross‑sectional study Agnieszka M. Frydrych1* , Richard Parsons2 and Omar Kujan1
Abstract Background: Individuals seeking dental treatment often present with medical conditions which may affect dental treatment provision. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of medical conditions and medication use among individuals attending dental clinics at a Western Australian tertiary institution. Methods: This observational study examined the general demographics, medical and social histories of 873 subjects presenting for a general dental examination at a Western Australian Tertiary Institution between March 2018 and February 2019. Individual recruited were those presenting to the clinics either as new patients to the Centre or returning patients after an extended period of absence. Results: Presence of a medical condition was reported by 86% of the participants, with males more commonly affected (p = 0.0448). Medication use was noted by 80% of the participants. Cardiovascular disease (37.9%), allergy (32.3%), mental health disorders (29.4%), musculoskeletal (23.0%), endocrine (22.4%) and respiratory disease (17.8%) were the most common conditions identified. Women were significantly more likely to report allergy (p = 0.0002) or a mental health condition (p = 0.0368). Conclusion: Medical comorbidities are common among individuals presenting for student dental treatment in Western Australia, highlighting the importance of knowledge and teaching of internal medicine and its application to the dental setting. Keywords: Systemic diseases, Dentistry, Dental institute, Western Australia, Cross-sectional Background Individuals seeking dental treatment often present with underlying medical conditions, which may or may not be managed with a variety of medications [1–16]. These comorbidities impact on the delivery of dental treatment and the importance of understanding the health status of the dental patient is well recognised [17–19]. The safety and effectiveness of dental treatment provision rests on the degree to which an individual’s medical status *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 UWA Dental School, The University of Western Australia, 17 Monash Avenue, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
is considered in dental treatment planning. This consideration in turn is highly dependent on the clinician’s knowledge of internal medicine and its application to the dental setting. Shortcomings of the dental curricular with respect to the preparation of students to deal with patients with underlying medical conditions have been demonstrated in a number of studies [20, 21]. Although grounding in general medicine is essential for the dental students in the modern era; understanding the most commonly encountered medical conditions in the dental setting, has the potential to shift the focus of internal medicine teaching. Th
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