January 25th, 2012 by Mark Britton, CEO

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When we launched our health Q&A and directory last year, many dentists asked when they could participate.  I’m pleased to announce that today we have launched a new dentist directory, as well as the ability for dentists across the country to participate in our expert-only Q&A forum.  I speak for everyone here at Avvo when I say how excited I am to expand Avvo’s proven platform to dentistry.

With the addition of dentists, we are providing a 360 degree approach to total wellness.  Extensive research has been done around the correlation between dental health and overall wellness.  Here are some interesting facts:

• 120 disease symptoms can be detected in your mouth by a dentist.(1)
• 1 out of every 2 people in the U.S. has some form of periodontal (gum) disease.(2)
• More than 75% of people over age 35 will be affected by some type of periodontal disease.(3)
• Periodontal disease has been associated with a higher overall rate of heart disease.(4)
• Treatment of periodontal disease has been shown to improve the control of blood sugar levels in diabetics.(5)
• Pregnant women with periodontal disease may be seven times more likely to deliver preterm, low-birth-weight babies, but the right dental treatment may cut their risk by 70 percent.(6)

There’s also an important correlation between dental care and the cost of healthcare.  A two-year study (7) by the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that patients who received early periodontal treatment had medical care costs that were lower by 16 percent annually for patients with heart disease, 11 percent annually for patients with stroke, and 9 percent annually for patients with diabetes.

This clear link between oral and overall health creates new opportunities for dentists and physicians to work together to help improve the health of their patients.  By bringing together experts across a broad range of medical disciplines, Avvo provides better information and an even more valuable experience for our customers.

Please keep in mind that we are taking a phased approach to rolling out our dentist directory.  While starting today dentists from across the country are on hand to answer questions, we are introducing rated dentist profiles in seven states:  California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Washington, Ohio and Pennsylvania.  In the other states, dentists may claim their profile and their Avvo Rating by searching for their name in the dentist directory. We expect to have all 50 states represented with rated profiles by the end of the year.

Further, as with any new online service that relies on user engagement, the quality of information we provide is only as good as you – our customers and professionals – make it, and we need your help getting started.  Go ahead, ask a question.  Take a look at our dentist directory and provide a review of those you know.  If you’re a practicing dentist, claim your profile and make sure it’s current and complete.  And most importantly, give us feedback.  We want to hear from you what we can do to make Avvo the best source of medical and legal information on the Web.  That was our commitment when we launched Avvo in 2007, and it continues to be our commitment today.

To celebrate our dentist launch, we are running an awesome “Kids Smile” photo contest.  Submit a photo of your child smiling in anticipation of a visit from the Tooth Fairy and you might win a $500 Amazon gift card.  Sadly, Amazon is not yet selling orthodontics, but $500 is nothing to sneeze at.  Just click on our Facebook page and follow the contest instructions.

Smile!

Mark

 

 

(1) Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2000.
(2) ADHA, Dealing with Gum Disease, A Life-Threatening Health Risk, 2004.
(3) M.P. McQueen. “Health Plans Expand Dental Benefits,” The Wall Street Journal, 2006.
(4) “Periodontal Diseases – What you need to know.” The American Academy of Periodontology, 2006.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Jeffcoat MK, Geurs NC, Reddy MS, Cliver SP, Goldenberg RL, Hauth JC. Periodontal infection and preterm birth: Results of a prospective study. J Am Dent Assoc. 2001 Jul; 132(7):875-80 / Lopez NJ, Smith PC, Gutierrez J. Higher risk of preterm birth and low birth weight in women with periodontal disease. J Dent Res. 2002 Jan; 81(l):5 8-63 / Jeffcoat, MK, Hauth, JC, Geurs, NC, Reddy, MS, Cliver, SP, Hodgkins, PM, Goldenberg, RL. Periodontal disease and preterm birth: Results of a pilot interventional study. J Periodontol. 2003 Aug; 74(8):1214-1218.
(7) The Columbia University Study involved over 144,000 insureds with medical and dental coverage; M.P. McQueen.  “Health Plans Expand Dental Benefits,” The Wall Street Journal, 2006.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 6:00 am by Mark Britton, CEO and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.