Dental Infections in the Primary Care Setting

Guest: Olivia (Liv) M. Muller, D.D.S. Host: Darryl S. Chutka, M.D. (@ChutkaMD) Dental caries and periodontal disease are commonly seen by primary care providers in the outpatient setting. In fact, dental caries is the most common disease in the United States, both in children and adults. Up to 50% of children have dental caries, and most adults have at least one tooth with decay or have a filling. Gingivitis is also quite common in adults; it is present in up to half of all individuals between the ages of 35 and 45. Yet, unless we go into dentistry, healthcare providers don’t get much training in the evaluation of dental conditions. The topic of discussion for this podcast is dental care and dental infections. Our guest is Olivia (Liv) M. Muller, D.D.S., an Assistant Professor of Dentistry at the Mayo Clinic. We’ll discuss which dental problems we’re likely to encounter in our patients, recommendations we can give them to prevent dental infections and some of the more common complications of dental infections. Connect with the Mayo Clinic’s School of Continuous Professional Development online at https://ce.mayo.edu/ or on Twitter @MayoMedEd.