Your patients are the lifeblood of your practice. To deliver the best care, you need a stellar team, a welcoming dental office, and an efficient system. One of the most useful tools for a dental practice is dental medical history forms. 

Understanding your patient's medical and dental history is crucial to providing the best service possible. These forms contain critical information like allergies, past operations, dental treatments, medical issues, and other factors that can alter treatment options.

As people age, medical needs change. To continue providing exceptional dental care, it is vital to have updated medical history forms for each patient. 

One of the best ways to do this while saving paper is by using online dental forms from Dental Intelligence. Our digital forms can save everyone time by allowing patients to update their medical history at home, on their phones, or with an in-office kiosk.

Below, we discuss the importance of updating dental medical forms to protect patient care and office efficiency.  

Oral Health and Certain Medical Conditions Have an Important Relationship

Although many patients don't think about it, various medical conditions directly affect oral health. For example, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes can lead to dental problems like tooth decay and gum disease. 

Dental professionals know that oral health problems like these can have multiple causes. Determining why the patient has a particular issue is crucial to treating it. Updated medical history forms can give dentists a better idea of the root cause of the problem, allowing them to provide better treatment and more accurate diagnoses.

Prescription Updates Need Attention

Dental medical history forms contain lists of medications your patients take. Unfortunately, several common prescriptions cause side effects like dry mouth or blood thinning, which can impact dental treatment plans. 

Knowing what medications your patients are taking is crucial to avoid worsening the side effects. For instance, if your patient takes blood thinners, you may reconsider certain dental operations.

Pregnancy Can Increase the Chances of Gum Disease

Pregnant women require specialized medical care to protect themselves and their growing babies. For example, if a pregnant woman needs an X-ray, doctors must protect the fetus by covering the patient's abdomen with radiation protection. 

In addition, pregnancy hormones can increase a woman's chance of gum disease. Dentists may alter dental treatment plans during pregnancy to protect the mother from severe oral health issues.

In many cases, pregnant women also cannot undergo oral surgery. As such, dentists may need to alter treatment and plan for an operation following the pregnancy.

Being Aware of Allergies Is Crucial

Knowing what your patients are allergic to is crucial, especially when administering medications. Understanding what medications patients are allergic to prevents dentists from making dangerous prescriptions or administering in-office drugs that could harm the patient.

However, medications are not the only potential causes of allergic reactions. For example, individuals can also be allergic to latex, nickel, or metal. Administering dental treatments with these materials can compromise a patient's health. 

Additionally, some patients are allergic to chlorohexidine. While you won't find this substance in any dental treatment, it is a popular cleaning agent. If you notice that a patient form has this listed as an allergy, you can prepare the office by using a different cleaning agent.

High Blood Pressure Can Increase the Risk of Stroke During an Appointment

A patient with systolic blood pressure over 180 or diastolic blood pressure over 109 cannot undergo dental procedures. High blood pressure increases the chances of a patient suffering from a stroke or heart attack during treatment. 

This risk is why dental professionals often take a patient's blood pressure before proceeding with the dental visit. This is an especially important practice when the patient has high blood pressure listed on their dental medical history forms.

Ready to Give Your Dental Practice an Efficiency Boost?

Generally, dental patients should update their medical forms annually. You can help them do this by providing new medical history forms at annual appointments. 

Instead of having patients take up appointment time by completing forms in-office, use Dental Intelligence's innovative digital forms. 

By partnering with Dental Intelligence, your patients can easily update their dental medical history forms before their dental appointments. As a result, your team can spend more time providing care and less time sorting through piles of paperwork.

We understand the importance of running an efficient, patient-centered dental office. That's why we offer a wide range of innovative solutions like virtual check-in and online dental forms.

Ready to boost efficiency and improve patient care? Contact us at Dental Intelligence to request your demo today!