Dentists can help identify patients at risk of heart attack

"These risk factors are not normally manifested in the mouth, which is why the dentists went beyond their normal check-up routine," says Mats Jontell, professor at the Sahlgrenska Academy.

"They also took the patients' blood pressure (BP) and checked total cholesterol and blood sugar levels," he adds.

The risk of a fatal cardiovascular disease was calculated using a software known as HeartScore.

The dentists felt that 12 men had a 10 percent risk of developing a fatal cardiovascular disease over the next 10 years and advised them to see their doctors. Six of the 12 were subsequently prescribed medication to lower their BP, according to a Sahlgrenska release.

"Dentists regularly see a very large percentage of the Swedish population, and if there is sufficient interest they could also screen for cardiovascular risk factors which, untreated, could lead to a heart attack or stroke," says Jontell.

These findings were published in the Journal of the American Dental Association.