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The Prevalence of Hypertension in Endodontic Clinics: A Pilot Study

Dania F Bogari,Ghaida T Bakalka,Loai W Hazzazi,Ahmed M Jan,Wael Y Elias,Neville J McDonald,Turki Y Alhazzazi*

Background: Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and a major risk factor for heart diseases and strokes. A lot of undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertensive patients seek dental treatment in regular basis. However, neither doctors nor patients are doing enough to fight and diagnose this silent killer disease. This study investigated the prevalence of undiagnosed or uncontrolled hypertensive patients who visited our endodontic clinic for dental treatment.

Methods: 102 patients were included in this study. Patients were non-smokers and only presented a history of hypertension alone or a clear medical history. We measured blood pressure using a digital sphygmomanometer after patients had been seated in a dental chair for at least 10 minutes. We present the data as descriptive and percentage values.

Results: A large fraction of patients (63.7%) were found to be hypertensive irrespective of their awareness of having hypertension. Nearly half (52.9%) of participants were unaware they had hypertension, and only 10.8% of patients knew they had hypertension. Only approximately half of the latter group of patients (4.9%) was already receiving medication for their hypertension.

Conclusion: Our data reveals that dentists play a critical role in detecting undiagnosed patients with hypertension; this role should be emphasized in our specialty as a standard of care.