For more than a
few people, a trip to the dentist can raise their blood pressure. If that
fear/anxiety raises your blood pressure to pre-hypertension levels—120-139
Systolic and greater than 80 Diastolic—then it might be risky treating that
patient. That’s why we have added blood pressure screening as part of the
comprehensive annual exam for patients.
Besides normal
anxiety, some of the procedures we do utilize pharmacologies that can impact
blood pressure. So having an accurate read prior to the start of treatment is
extremely important, particularly if the patient has high blood pressure or is
on medication for it.
Another reason is
that many people are unaware that they have high blood pressure, largely
because they don’t get an annual check-up with their physician. A visit to the
dentist should not replace that, but checking BP as part of the exam can alert
patients to a potential problem.
Hypertension or
high blood pressure affects more than one in three adults in the United States.
It’s also estimated that another 30 percent of the population has
pre-hypertension. That’s blood pressure higher than what’s considered
acceptable for an adult, 120 systolic/80 diastolic.
Prior to 2007,
135/85 had been considered an acceptable pressure. That now is considered
pre-hypertension. So there’s a real need to stay on top of your blood pressure.
That’s something
we do not take lightly at The Toothboss. As a dental student, one of my professors
assigned us the task of practicing taking blood pressure readings on friends
and family. I practiced on my father. The first reading was shocking so I took
it again and again. Each came back with the same conclusion. My father had high
blood pressure.
My practicing on him probably saved his life because I’m not sure he
would have gone to the doctor on his own. It’s for people like my father that
we are taking this extra step. First, I will do the BP screenings as part of
the comprehensive exams. Once we upgrade our machinery, everybody who visits
the Toothboss will have their blood pressure checked, by me and our hygienists.