Pa. dentist, physician offer cardio disease screening

A Philadelphia-area dentist is partnering with a local physician to offer an advanced cardiovascular disease screening test.

Plymouth Meeting dentist Richard Nagelberg, DDS, will team up with Washington Crossing Family Practice physician Charles Whitney, MD, to provide carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) ultrasound scans in their respective offices from June 23 through 25.

The CIMT ultrasound is a noninvasive test that can visualize soft plaque, and is only recently available to the public. Dr. Whitney is bringing mobile service provider Vasolabs from Texas to perform the tests.

"There's no doubt that oral health has a great effect on overall health. Why would a dentist be interested in arterial plaque? Because periodontal disease and the causative oral bacteria are directly and indirectly associated with cardiovascular disease," Dr. Nagelberg said. "Patients are best served by having their dentist and physician working together to ensure optimum overall health."

"Anyone who has oral disease needs vascular screening and anyone who has vascular disease needs oral screening," Dr. Whitney said. "Our goal as clinicians is to prevent the first event of stroke or heart attack rather than wait until an event has occurred."