On March 27, the Phoenix College (PC) Dental Assisting (DA) Honors students, working with the rest of their cohort, provided Oral Health Roundtables to the PC Medical Assisting (MA) program students. The objective of the project was to bring information about chronic diseases that benefit from dental treatment to MA students who are about to start their clinical rotations. The goal was for future medical professionals to feel empowered to start conversations with their patients about seeking dental care or the effects of a new prescription on their oral health.
Dental Assisting Residential Faculty Ms. Rita Perry led the Honors students in their Community Oral Health module, which tasked them with selecting and constructing a project to manage and lead their classmates to implement. "Oftentimes, patients are being treated regularly in their physician's office for diabetes or cardiovascular disease, or even for a pregnancy, where their overall health could benefit from dental treatment, especially for periodontal disease, but their doctor might not tell them this," said Ms. Perry. "On the other hand, we might see a dental patient with oral manifestations of a yet undiagnosed medical condition for which we need to refer them to their physician." These examples underscore the need to increase the oral health literacy of medical students, which has been recognized by public health organizations for over a decade.
This project briefly introduced initiatives to integrate oral and medical health that have been happening nationwide. Students undertook a "close to home" project, but also learned more about the relationships between oral health and systemic health. Research continues to find evidence that factors involved in oral diseases contribute to specific, common, chronic disease processes.
The DA students chose six topic areas, which determined their presentation groups and met with day and evening cohorts of MA students and their faculty. According to the MA students, the systemic conditions linked to periodontal (gum) disease and guidance for children's dental health were enlightening. The other areas taught by the DA students included oral cancer, nutrition for oral health, oral effects of medications, and caries (tooth decay) prevention. Many MA students also commented that they had learned valuable insights to improve their oral health.
Want to be part of these innovative medical collaborations that benefit patients? Consider a career in Dental Assisting or Medical Assisting.