After a thorough examination and diagnosis of oral problems and screening for a linked stress-related disorder, dentists can help patients by referring them to a medical specialist.

"The 'team treatment' between dentist and medical specialist ensures both oral and overall health problems are being treated," explains Edward Grace, DDS, MA, FAGD, co-author of an article on stress-related disorders that appears in the November/December 2002 issue of General Dentistry, the clinical, peer-reviewed scientific journal of the AGD.