Your oral health is a gateway to your general health. The data is clear – there are over 50 systemic diseases related to gum disease. Heart disease and diabetes lead the way. At IOM we realize we often have the opportunity to see patients more than they see their physician and strive to be instrumental in detecting some of the most common diseases at early stages. To further this end, IOM will be launching a “Know Your Numbers” campaign – Empowering Patients through Education, Testing and Collaboration.

Education: A key to integrating oral health with overall health is educating patients in order to help you take an active role in your health maintenance. To do so, we need to know certain key measurables that are revealing about your overall health.

What we want you to know:

• Deepest gum pocket measurements around your teeth
• Number of bleeding spots during gum examination (zero is the goal!)
• Your cavity risk
• If you have a healthy balance of mouth bacteria
• If you have a stomach acid problem
• If you have sleep apnea or airway issues
• Your A1c level & average blood sugar
• Your blood pressure
• Your total cholesterol
• How much water you drink daily
• How many minutes of exercise you get daily
• Your Vitamin D level
• How you manage stress
• Your risk for Alzheimer’s & dementia
• Most importantly – any heart attack and stroke risk

Testing: To determine your “numbers”, we have several onsite tests available to provide truly personalized treatment including: saliva testing (for bacteria, yeast, viruses, and genetic risk factors), sleep screening, and even a Cleveland Heart Lab lipid/inflammatory screening panel performed by our on-site phlebotomist (ask for days of availability).

Collaboration: Early disease detection is key. If you need more care, we collaborate with your physicians as well as other area health care professionals to help you get it, so you can achieve total body health.

Watch for upcoming patient events with testing opportunities to learn more about your health!

At Integrative Oral Medicine, we want to do more than create a beautiful smile; we want to help those smiling be as healthy as they can be!