When Dr. Stephen Abrams, a General Dentist from Toronto, did some simple analysis on the make-up of emergency calls received by his practice during the 3 months of COVID lockdown, he discovered that 50% or more of the calls were due to fractured or broken teeth. Further examination revealed that many of these fractured or broken teeth were on non-functional cusps, and that the patients were also complaining of sore muscles and tenderness in adjacent teeth.
Dr. Abrams quickly recognized the symptoms of stress-related grinding parafunction, something he calls “COVID-19 Bruxism.”
In conversation with Dr. John O’Keefe, Director of Knowledge Networks CDA, Dr. Abrams offers advice to General Dentists on how to manage the diagnosis of stress in their patients, and highlights the opportunity for the dental profession to become an essential healthcare provider in diagnosing an overall health effect.
We hope you find the conversation useful. We welcome your thoughts, questions and/or suggestions about this post and other topics. Leave a comment in the box below or send us your feedback by email.
Until next time!
CDA Oasis Team