Correspondence Address:
Ashita Uppoor
Editor in Chief, Journal of Interdisciplinary Dentistry, Professor and Associate Dean, Department of Periodontology, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal University, Mangalore, Karnataka
India

Full Text

[AUTHOR:1]In today's world, a majority of the population are suffering from a complex set of diseases affecting multiple systems of the body, thus jeopardizing the overall health status of an individual. In addition, the last two decades of research in oral-systemic medicine has provided us with remarkable scientific findings. Oral fluids and oral tissues have been extensively studied and are found to be a potential source in diagnosing a host of oral and systemic diseases.

Therefore, it becomes increasingly important that the health-care professionals work together as a team. The team-based practice has been a mantra in health-care delivery for decades; however, little has been done to implement it into patient care delivery. The team approach ensures better utilization of the resources, thereby facilitating an individual to receive a more comprehensive and quality treatment. This, in turn, will lead to dentists helping their patients to manage their medical care and physicians in helping patients better manage their dental care.

Dentists are well trained in diagnosing and treating the diseases and conditions related to the oral cavity. In a similar manner, medical professionals too feel a lacunae in diagnosiing the problems associated with the oral cavity. They often ignore the severity associated with the same, and most of the time, the patients are left uninformed about the importance of an oral health examination.

Thus, an approach toward interprofessional collaboration will not only improve the quality of treatment provided to the patient but also improve the interprofessional communications. This will pave the way for achieving a whole new dimension in attaining higher standards of patient care.