Monday, November 24, 2008

Bulimia is a dental disease

We all know that eating disorders can wreck havoc on oral health. Bulimia, most notably can take a heavier toll at first symptoms which continue to accumulate further as the eating disorder progresses. In this press release, Dr. Brian McKay, a dentist in Seattle, discusses his new book, Bulimia is a Dental Disease.

McKay's goal is not only to educate about the damage of bulimia to one's oral health, but also to bring together the dental community in helping eating disorder clients. McKay says, "
We need a change in the Standard of Care. Dentists must form alliances with eating disorder professionals. Together we can treat both the mental and oral aspects of this disease and the result should be a higher success rate. There is nothing more inviting than seeing someone smile again."

To my knowledge, this is the first book exclusively addressing bulimia and dental health. I have no clue how the book is, but I think it is a good step to help educate and bridge the gap between dentists and eating disorder clients.

In my opinion, I think even if dentists may know there is a problem, there is a hesitancy in bringing up the issue despite the fact that some clients may come in multiple times or simply for one visit never to be seen again. As much time as I've spent in dentists' offices over the last twelve years, not one brought up or asked about my eating disorder. It kind of felt like the giant elephant in the room. It wasn't until a few years ago when I changed dentists and decided to be completely honest that it was discussed. I found them (there were two at the time) to be non-judgmental and helpful, even when I was so frustrated that the damage was completely irreversible despite reducing my purging behavior.

The take home message is that dentists and professionals need to collaborate together to help their eating disorder clients. In effect, this will allow clients to communicate and discuss these issues, even if it is only about damage control, like Lola posts about here.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, cool! It's time that a book like this is released. I'm curious as to how to Dr. McKay thinks dentists should help bulimics mentally, so I'll probably end up reading it. :)

Cammy said...

I'm glad this issue is being addressed. One thing that has really frustrated me is that I've been ultra-paranoid about dental damage and have never purged, but anorexia has deteriorated my teeth significantly anyway. Blah, no winning with EDs, as we all know. I wonder if the book also addresses how non-purging eating disorders affect dental health?

Anonymous said...

That is really interesting. I am surprised that it's not been done before,but i have certainly never come across it either. seems bizarre really, a bit like a mechanic never writing about cars with engine trouble!

I only hope it is well written, and becomes a widely used resource, hopefully raising the profile of Bulimia. I approve of anything which gets it further recognised as a dangerous medical condition and not just a "bad habit"

Thanks for the link BTW

Lola x

Tiptoe said...

It'll be interesting to see how this book fares. I really do hope it will be helpful and not just some run of the mill type book.

Cammy, it would be wise to discuss the effects of anorexia on teeth as well, but no clue whether this book will or not.

Lola, cute mechanics analogy! Yes, people need the "bad habit" thought replaced with a mental illness in which people are suffering!

KC said...

My guess is that osteoporosis/penia from AN might affect the teeth as well. What a fantastic sounding book! I hope it's good and helpful. You always find the best announcements.

Tiptoe said...

Kyla, yep, I agree with you. I know anorexics who have lost teeth due to not having enough bone in their mouths to hold them.

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Hello, I do not agree with the previous commentator - not so simple

Unknown said...

Cool. We'll be waiting for that book to be published. I expect bulimic symptoms associated with dental problems be included. Thanks.

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