Dentists can also assist with issues outside of the dental office to help improve oral hygiene. For example, they can suggest an electric toothbrush for patients who have difficulty with the movement required for a manual brush, he advised. “Generally, if a dentist is educated as to the clinical parameters of scleroderma, they may be able to give advice to improve the quality of life,” Dr. Leask said, noting the depth of impact symptoms have on patients. “They are a major cause of anxiety and stress on a daily basis, and I think the dentist should be more aware of what scleroderma is and how to treat potential patients in the clinic.”
Treatment Options for Oral Disease
Natalia Trehan, DMD, assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, addressed the session topic from an oral medicine perspective during her talk on Treatment Options for Oral Disease in Scleroderma and Sjögren’s Disease.
She discussed recognizing oral manifestations of both diseases, the collaboration of medical specialties with disease management, and emerging and complementary therapies. She began by highlighting a small survey she and colleagues conducted among 36 healthcare professionals and 51 patients to explore the connection between oral health and rheumatic diseases.
Asked what oral health means to them, the respondents offered a variety of answers; those that stood out in the survey included equitable access to care, healthy teeth and gums, and taking care of related rheumatic diseases, such as Sjögren’s. The main answer dealt with trust and confidence, which relates to another response that said dentistry is scary but important, Dr. Trehan noted.
On the topic of oral health and rheumatic disease, 41% of patients said they didn’t know about the connection between the two medical fields, 21% of respondents self-learned about it through Google and other internet interactions and 27% of responses were listed as other. Notably, only 10% of patients had discussed it with their dentist and 1% with their rheumatologist.
Among the responding rheumatologists, 61% said they communicate with dental providers but 39% said they didn’t. Although the higher percentage reflects well on the push for collaboration between the specialties, room for improvement clearly exists, noted Dr. Trehan.
Common Oral Health Issues
Dry mouth, gum inflammation, temporomandibular joint pain and mouth sores are common oral health issues that rheumatologists see in their practice, including patients with scleroderma and Sjögren’s disease. Patients who take biologics as treatment for their rheumatic disease also have the potential to have oral lesions.
