Seeing a Dentist Involves More than Just Cleanings and Cavities

by Annette Pinder

A recent study conducted by University of Arizona College of Medicine published in the Journal Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma, revealed that about 75 percent of head and neck trauma associated with domestic violence occurs with an oral injury. As a result, the researchers say that dentists are uniquely positioned to report suspected cases of domestic abuse.

No one is more familiar with this than Shilpa Kapoor, DDS, MS, BDS, Lead Clinical Dentist and Director at the Community Health Center of Buffalo (CHCB). Dr. Kapoor recalls a recent patient. “She was in her 40s and was accompanied by her mom, a much older woman. The patient’s mouth was severely injured, and she had broken teeth. Both she and her mom cried for about 30 minutes as the patient’s mom warned, ‘Next time he is going to kill you.’”

“Domestic violence is more common than people realize, and the role dentists can play when they are aware of these situations can be critical in getting people help,” says Dr. Kapoor. In this patient’s case, Dr. Kapoor was able to get the patient immediate help right at CHCB, bringing in an onsite social worker, and arranging for an immediate exam to determine the extent of the patient’s injuries, including ruling out possible brain damage.

Dr. Kapoor encourages health care providers, especially dentists, to increase their awareness of evidence of such abuse by becoming early detectors and getting patients follow-up care. She says, “Evidence of abuse can include suspicious tears, teeth and jaw fractures and breaks, chips in the teeth and mouth inconsistent with a patient’s personal history, trauma to nerves in the mouth and jaw, damage to the nasal bone, tooth discoloration, blunted roots, death of cells and tissues in the center of a tooth, or tears or breaks at the mouth corners, and presenting with a black eye or other facial injuries. She also reminds her colleagues to be sensitive to psychological manifestations of abuse, such as depression, anxiety, nervousness, and reluctance to talk. Often, victims of domestic violence are accompanied to appointments by their abusers who do all of the talking for the patient.

The researchers say 41.5 million people in the U.S. will experience some type of domestic violence during their lifetime, 20.75 million will sustain a traumatic brain injury, and 8.3 million will live with long-term physiological or psychological consequences of their injuries. Dentists and other health providers are often the first or only health professional that is observing these signs in their patients, and are in a position to begin the process of getting them help.

Dr. Kapoor says, “While many think a visit to the dentist simply involves teeth cleaning and filling cavities, today’s dentistry involves so much more.”

Shilpa Kapoor, DDS, MS, BDS has extensive education as a dentist, including completing an advanced international dentistry program at Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado, where she earned a doctorate in dental surgery. She performs onsite teeth cleanings, fillings, x-rays, exams, extractions, imaging, dentures, and partials as well as tele-dental exams and consultations for patients requiring remote dental services. Learn more and make an appointment by calling 716-986-9199.