Table 1.

A call to action.

Action Item	Description	Potential Impact
Clinician Education	Increase clinician awareness of the association between PD and CVD to facilitate screening practices, education of patients, and early referrals.	Early implementation of preventative care strategies to reduce PD and CVD risk.
Screening for CVD in Dental Practices	Recognition of CV Risk factors in PD patients (including hypertension, obesity and smoking screening) accomplished with BP checks and weights with BMI calculation in the dental office.	Increase preventive and treatment strategies for undiagnosed CVD
Screening for PD in Medical Offices (including cardiology)	Recognition of PD risk factors in CVD patients with reminders to visit twice annually for dental checkups, periodic questioning about oral health with a focus on oral health during the physical exam.	Increase the preventive and treatment strategies for undiagnosed PD
Improved Communication/ Collaboration	Enhance communication between dentists, physicians, and patients in a multidisciplinary model by obtaining the name of the dental and physician providers at check in, sharing office / progress notes and holding interdisciplinary conferences.	Improved quality of care and opportunity for collaborative health care solutions as well as research investigation.
Shared Data/EMR	Use of shared EMR to facilitate information exchange. The future may allow for increased interoperability between dental and medical EMRs.	Increase the recognition of risk factors that might otherwise be missed with more automated alerts.
Lifestyle Programs	Increased availability of accessible programs for lifestyle modification (smoking cessation, healthier eating, weight loss, blood pressure management)	Improved oral and CV health attainment.
Health Care Reform	Advocacy by clinicians, medical and dental organizations for increased patient coverage through Medicaid and Medicare plans.	Expand coverage for preventive care and treatment of PD to lessen the downstream associated disease