They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that such further training was necessary to diagnose other ailments in patients visiting dental clinics.
The experts said the move would ensure that such patients were referred appropriately for better management, treatment and prevention of complications, including death.
Dr Michael Adeyemi, a Dentist at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, said that many people were unaware they had other medical illnesses other than tooth problem.
Adeyemi said that many patients died due to some medical complications unknown to both the patients and the dentists.
According to him, dentists need to understand those conditions which may also affect and modify the way he or she manages the patient.
“It is not enough to say you want to fill or extract the teeth but to look at the entire person.
“You will be amazed that when you routinely take blood pressure of patients, about four out of 10 of them may be hypertensive.
“We know that hypertension, stroke, can kill faster than toothache and so, in that individual, you will be concerned about managing his situation.
“So, part of the teaching now is to screen for these diseases, because we need to manage them,’’ he told NAN.
The dentist said that there were challenges facing dentists managing patients with ailments other than the oral health.
He said that the challenges include long distance hospital settings and referrals by dental clinics.
Adeyemi said that another major challenge was that most dentists practised only core dentistry.
He urged dentists to go beyond core dentistry by undergoing more training on how to identify other medical ailments.
Adeyemi said that dentists should identify patients suffering from other ailments and refer such patients appropriately in order to manage their conditions.
Another dentist, Dr Temi Eniola at the Randle General Hospital, Surulere, urged the public to make it a routine to do basic screenings.
Eniola said that such screenings were still not common among Nigerians.
“Visiting the doctor for routine check, including blood pressure and sugar levels would reduce the risk of terminal diseases such as cancer,’’ he told NAN. (NAN)
