Research from the Mayo Clinic suggests that regular preventive dental care can help reduce the risk of significant, costly health problems in people who have coronary artery disease or diabetes.

The study published in the journal Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry included 11,734 people with diabetes, coronary artery disease, or both.

Researchers compared the total health care costs of those who received preventive dental care with those who did not, and they found that:

• those with diabetes who received it saved an average of $549 in costs,
• those with CVD saw $548 in savings, and
• those with both conditions saw $866 in savings.

“Besides better oral outcome, regular preventive dental visits are associated with better health outcomes among patients with diabetes and chronic artery disease, resulting in significant savings in health care costs,” lead investigator Bijan Borah, PhD, a health services researcher at Mayo Clinic told Health.

Interestingly, cost is one of the primary reasons people avoid going to the dentist, as many health insurance plans do not include dental coverage.

Read more at Health.com.

© Copyright WLL, INC. 2022. This blog provides healthcare tips and advice that you can trust about a wide variety of general health information only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your regular physician. If you are concerned about your health, take what you learn from this blog and meet with your personal doctor to discuss your concerns.