Guilford County needs to add dental clinics
Our community’s health will be improved if the Guilford County Board of Commissioners supports dental clinics as part of the Guilford Adult Health and Guilford Child Health clinics.
My role as teacher of family medicine residents and as practitioner in the Moses Cone Health System Family Practice Center provides frequent contact with patients who have insufficient financial resources or insurance to cover dental care. Our physicians are often faced with the challenge of managing patients’ medical health while it is adversely affected by dental disease.
A common example is the patient whose diabetes cannot be adequately controlled due to chronic infection in the mouth. The poor control of their blood sugars contributes to early development of heart attacks, strokes, loss of limbs and kidney failure.
Another is the elderly patient who becomes malnourished because painful gums and lost teeth interfere with eating. These patients had very limited access to dental care before the Guilford County Dental Society’s efforts to provide volunteer care.
Monies that the county expends to support dental clinics at Guilford Adult and Guilford Child Health will be multiplied into a much greater effect on patient’s health and ultimately into cost savings for their medical care.
Wayne A. Hale
Greensboro
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