Dental Tribune Untited Kingdom Edition

7NewsApril 16-22, 2012United Kingdom Edition T he UK launch of ‘Peri- odontal Disease and Over- all Health: A Clinician’s Guide’ a textbook, supported by an educational grant from Colgate, took place at Chandos House, London. A host of attend- ees representing a wide range of educators, periodontists and those with a shared interest in medicine came together to hear about the most contemporary thinking behind what the dental and medical literature suggest is an association between oral and systemic diseases. Dr Anousheh Alavi, Scientific Affairs Manager, Colgate UK & Ireland, opened the proceedings introducing Dr Fotinos Panaga- kos, Colgate Director of Clinical Research. Dr Panagakos, who is based in the US, shared in- sight into the 18 chapters, which delve into the sciences behind diabetes mellitus, atherosclero- sis, adverse pregnancy events, respiratory diseases, osteopo- rosis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer, looking at risk factors in common with periodontal disease such as inflammatory processes. The book then logi- cally follows with a discussion of the steps needed for compre- hensive co-management of the diseases by both dental and medical caregivers. The editors, Drs Robert J Genco and Ray C Williams, as- sembled this textbook working with a number of internationally renowned authors. In their over- view they set out clear goals for this text book stating “Much re- search is focused on understand- ing how periodontal disease increases the risk for systemic diseases. It is not yet clear what impact the biofilm in the oral cavity might have on distant sites and organs; likewise the role of the inflammatory response is not fully understood. Some of the chapters in this textbook review the biological plausibility for periodontal disease as a risk for systemic conditions. The overall goal of this text- book is to present the emerging and compelling evidence that periodontal disease is a risk for several systemic conditions and to look at the role of oral health in contributing to overall health. This book also seeks to provide the reader with a guide to patient management in which dentistry and medicine work together.” This textbook will be provid- ed in hard copy to UK and Irish dental libraries, and available to all dental professionals to down- load as a PDF from www.colgate- professional.co.uk DT ‘Periodontal Disease and Over- all Health: A Clinician’s Guide’