title: The medical and dental attendance pattern of patients attending general dental practices in Warwickshire and their general health risk assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The dental team could have an important role to play in general health risk assessment within primary and community healthcare.Aims To describe medical and dental attendance patterns, demographics and health profiles of patients routinely attending general dental practices in Warwickshire. To identify whether a subgroup attend dental practices regularly but attend medical practices infrequently and discuss whether preventive healthcare interventions delivered in general dental practice would be appropriate.
  
  
  METHODS
  A self-completion questionnaire was administered to patients attending 16 dental practices in Warwickshire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight hundred and eleven completed questionnaires were returned (74% response). Seven hundred and eighty-nine (98%) respondents visited their dentist every one to two years or more frequently and of these a subgroup of 121 (15.3%) visited their general medical practice surgery or health centre less often than every two years. In the subgroup 9.5% reported high blood pressure, 17.6% currently smoked, 22% drank above recommended guidelines, 32.1% were overweight and 7.3% obese.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data suggest there may be a role for dental practitioners in identifying patients at risk of having undiagnosed or future general health problems and providing appropriate general health advice, screening or signposting the patient to relevant general healthcare facilities either within or external to the dental practice.
authors.affiliation: Warwick Dentistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Ireland
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bowyer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ireland
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sutcliffe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005792:General Practice, Dental / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013222:State Medicine; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires