Detecting medical problems in dentistry: a survey of 4,087 patients in The Netherlands.

OBJECTIVES

This study was conducted to determine whether a medical history could be an effective means of detecting medical problems in dental patients.

METHODS

A risk-related patient-administered medical questionnaire was completed by 4,087 patients in 47 dental practices. The data collected were summarized by means of descriptive statistics; the number of medical problems and the relationship between these problems and the age of the patient were analyzed.

RESULTS

In all, 37.2% of these patients reported at least one medical problem. Hypertension, chronic bronchitis, allergies and medication were the items most frequently mentioned. The frequencies of heart disease, hypertension, endocrinologic and neurologic disorders increased with age, while allergies and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were evenly distributed over the different age groups. The differences between the health of the patients in the various dental practices were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of these results, it can be concluded that taking a medical history by means of a patient-administered questionnaire is an effective method of detecting medical problems of dental patients.