title: Primary care, the dental profession, and the prevalence of chronic diseases in the United States.
abstract: The population of the United States is aging rapidly, and the prevalence of chronic diseases will increase as the population grows and ages. The management of chronic illnesses will become an increasing burden for primary care providers. This article suggests that dentists may need to monitor chronic disease and control the risk factors (ie, provide primary care) for their own dental patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. chester_douglass@hsdm.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Chester W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Douglass
authors.forename: Jayapriyaa R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Shanmugham
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003813:Dentistry / Q000639:trends*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D011157:Population Dynamics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000639:trends*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology