Weight Loss Centers Could Benefit Obese Clients By Collaborating with Dentists

Weight loss centers want to motivate their clients to lose weight. Providing the client with useful information can help the client understand the importance of losing excess weight and maintaining the weight loss. Thus, it may be worthwhile for weight loss organizations to collaborate with other health care organizations that are interested in getting people to maintain a healthy body weight.

It has been known for sometime that obesity can increase the chances of periodontal or gum disease. The relationship between periodontal disease and obesity was further confirmed in a recent study. Since this relationship exists, dentists may want to encourage their patients to maintain a healthy body weight as a way to fight periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is caused by plaque that has formed on the teeth. This disease can affect the gums and bone holding the teeth in such a way as to cause tooth loss. Dentists encourage their patients to brush and floss daily to retard plaque formation. Dentists commonly advise their patients to have their teeth cleaned by a dental office twice a year.

And dentists often encourage their patients to get periodic dental checkups. During these checkups, dental office personnel will usually inspect a patient’s gums to determine if there is any change in the way the gums fit around the teeth. So dentists work diligently with patients to treat or help them avoid periodontal and other tooth related diseases. Hence, dentists might be amenable to working with bariatric or weight loss centers in an attempt to reduce the level of obesity. Moreover, some dentists might be willing to advise their patients that excessive weight gain can lead to periodontal disease. And some dentists might even be open to referring obese patients to specific weight loss facilities. If some coordinated-care arrangement could be worked out between a weight loss center and a dentist, the coordinated activity could possibly help the patient. This type of collaboration could also benefit the dentist and the weight loss center. ----------------------------------------------

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