Salivary diagnostics, oral bacteria linked to cancer and a growing focus on the mouth-body connection are pulling dentistry into the center of U.S. healthcare, according to one DSO executive.
Joe Feldsien, senior vice president of integrated care at Henderson, Nev.-based PDS Health recently joined the Becker’s Dental + DSO Review podcast to discuss the variability in how dentistry is practiced, as well as the growing role of the mouth-body link.
Note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are some of the biggest trends you are watching in the dental industry?
Joe Feldsien: There is tremendous variability in how dentistry is practiced across this country. Even if you were to narrow it down to the DSO space, there’s just so much variability and a lot of different perspectives on what is best for patients. When I was growing up in the dental industry, the whole idea was that the hygienist was central to what was done because the hygienist was good at building relationships. The hygienist would clean teeth, then refer patients to the dentist for crowns, bridges and implants. And in some cases, that’s still the way it is. It’s a “wait until it breaks and then fix it” approach.
The other end of the spectrum is where dentistry is seen as a preventive aspect of overall health, not just oral health. There are now people who are using salivary diagnostics. They’re talking to the patient about the mouth-body connection, that the bacteria of the mouth are in fact causing severe damage to the rest of the body and can have big, big implications. I think the big thing that we suffer from in the dental space is there’s so much variability from one end of that spectrum to the other.
Q: What is something about dentistry that is making you excited?
JF: I think that there is no doubt as you look at the studies and as you look at the key influencers out there, that the mouth is being brought back into whole-body care. You can see it obviously at PDS with some of our initiatives, but it’s well beyond PDS. One of the big things is what is going on with salivary diagnostics. We are able to see now through saliva so much more, which is very significant because it gives us insights into what’s going on in the body. With those insights, we can discuss specific bacteria. One of those bacteria is FN. It is having a significant impact on women as it relates to pregnancy and as it relates to preterm and low-birth-weight babies. We’ve also seen that Fusobacterium nucleatum, known as FN, can be a factor in colon cancer. It’s also a factor in breast cancer, and so the bacteria of the mouth can have a significant impact throughout the rest of the body. From that perspective, that’s what’s really encouraging to me. The dental profession has never been more relevant to the U.S. healthcare crisis than it is today, and it will only be more relevant going forward.
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