Diabetes Check and Teeth Cleaning All Rolled Into One?

As I am going through my google reader this morning at the dental clinic, I came across an article that discussed the possibility of integrating Diabetes screenings at the dentist. 

Their major argument, is that many Americans who see their dentist every year, do not see a primary health care physician.  Dentists see about 13 million patients a year and could help capture a great number of the 55 million people who do not see their PCP yearly. 

In the us nearly 9% of Americans have diabetes and nearly 1/3 of the population is prediabetic.  One of the hardest parts of the disease is that many Americans don't even know they have the disease.  Sheila Strauss began to think about ways in which screenings could be implemented into routine dental appointments.  One idea was to have the patient answer a short survey to see if they were at risk.  If a person screened positive the dentist or dental hygienist could mention that they might want to see their PCP.  Other screenings could include blood pressure and cholesterol tests. 

So far there do not seem to be a large American dentists who screen for Diabetes, and there is currently some push back because they cannot bill for those services.  Similarly there might be some worry from primary care specialists that dentists may be stealing their business.  I had never thought about the fact that you never have your blood pressure and/or weight taken when you get your teeth cleaned.  But with a huge push for medical homes, it does make sense to incorporate dental health.  Dental health correlates with overall health and quality of life.