Oral Health in Healthcare

Dear Colleagues,

The importance of needing good oral health and keeping our teeth as we age is well-established and well-known. However, the fact that oral health is intimately related to other parts of our body is less appreciated by the public and, unfortunately, by many non-dental healthcare professionals.

There is evidence that poor oral health can lead to systemic diseases including infections to the rest of the body, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, dementia and rheumatoid arthritis. It is also well-recognised that this relationship is often bi-directional. For instance, people with periodontitis, where the gums pull away from the teeth and supporting gum tissues and bones are irreversibly destroyed, are more likely to develop diabetes and cardiovascular complications. Recent evidence demonstrates that chronic inflammation of the gums adversely affects blood glucose levels which may require pharmacotherapy management and can lead to diabetes-related complications such as glaucoma and neuropathy. At the same time, people with diabetes have a three-to-four times higher prevalence of severe periodontitis, resulting in premature tooth loss, poor nutrition, suboptimal blood glucose levels, more cardiovascular complications and other morbidity risks.

Professional recommendations and guidelines advocate the need for shared management between medical, dental and allied health practitioners to increase the efficiency of care delivery and improve patient outcomes. The benefits of interprofessional care are even more critical for populations that are vulnerable including culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) populations, people with disabilities and AOD (alcohol and other drugs) addictions. However, the mouth and the rest of the body continue to be managed separately, particularly in the primary healthcare setting.

This Special Issue of Healthcare seeks commentaries, original research, short reports, and reviews on the role of oral health in the bigger picture of healthcare to bring attention to the relationship between oral and systemic health, and the need for collaboration between oral health and other healthcare practitioners to effectively improve the health and well-being of patients. The aim is to inform the development of health policies, strategies and systems to effect the required paradigm change.

Dr. Phyllis Lau
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• oral health
• periodontitis
• diabetes
• cardiovascular disease
• disability
• drug and alcohol use
• interprofessional care
• medical education