Poor oral health has been linked to serious illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, prompting the Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to enter into a clinical and academic affiliation agreement with ProHEALTH Dental. The partnership will create a collaborative program to address the correlation of poor oral health with chronic diseases by expanding dental training, education, and services for the community.
Through the “Oral Health Initiative,” Mount Sinai primary care physicians in Queens, NY, and ProHEALTH Dental dentists will collaborate on coordinated care and patient education programs to improve the overall health and wellness of their patients. ProHEALTH will open a facility designed to offer state-of-the-art care in Long Island City, NY, on October 1, 2017, with additional locations in Queens planned to open in the next year.
Amanda Perez, DDS, clinical instructor of dentistry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, will serve as chief dental officer. The dentists at the practice will have academic appointments with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
“We are among the first health systems to address the important connection between oral and overall health through the coordination of care between patients’ primary care physicians and dentists,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, CEO and president of the Mount Sinai Health System. “We are pleased to work with ProHEALTH Dental to further our mission of providing preventative care, promoting health and wellness, and expanding access to care in the communities we serve.”
The affiliation agreement also expands the scope of Mount Sinai’s dental residency program through the rotation of its first and second year residents in ProHEALTH Dental’s offices in Queens.
“We are excited to offer this unique experience to our residents,” said John L. Pfail, chief of the department of dentistry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Through this initiative with ProHEALTH Dental, our residents will gain community-based comprehensive care experience.
“Our model and mission is to improve patients’ overall health through the coordination of dental services with academic healthcare systems and large, high-quality medical groups. By offering full-service, state-of-the-art dentistry services to patients of all ages in collaboration with the patients’ treating physicians, we will both improve patient health and reduce the cost of healthcare,” said Norton L. Travis, CEO of ProHEALTH Dental.
Related Articles
Collaborative Dental Practice Targets Systemic Healthcare
Oral Cancer: The Importance of Early Detection
9/11 Responders May Face Greater Throat and Tongue Cancer Risks
