National Periodontal Disease Project

In the last decade, numerous studies have shown linkages or associations between periodontal disease and systemic diseases, including complications of stroke, heart disease, pre-term and low-weight births, diabetes, and respiratory diseases such as pneumonia. Most adults show signs of periodontal or gingival diseases.

Oral Health America’s National Periodontal Disease Project invites health care practitioners, business leaders, journalists, practice management consultants, communications experts, educators and others committed to join in raising the profile of this most common infection of the mouth.

Since 2004, Oral Health America has hosted a series of meetings to address periodontal disease and impacts on oral and overall health and healthcare. Increasing dialogue between medical and dental care providers can serve as an important step in ensuring better oral healthcare and overall healthcare outcomes.

• Register Now! Collaborative Health Care for Older Adults: A Symposium for Creating Dialogue between Medicine and Dentistry, October 16, 2006, New York Academy of Sciences
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• For an e-briefing from our 2008 symposium, From Basic Science to Clinical Practice and Policy: A Medical-Dental Dialogue on the Relationship between Periodontal Disease and Systemic Health, visit www.nyas.org/oshconf.

Related links:

• "Air Time for Periodontal Disease" PSA Campaign
• A related study from Aetna and Columbia University
• Periodontal (Gum) Disease: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment--information from the National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research
• A backgrounder from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on oral health and older Americans
• NIDCR Study on Association between Cardiovascular Disease and Periodontal Bacteria