I'm a third year dental student in Texas. The very first thing we are required to do for our patients is to take their blood pressure as soon as they sit in the chair. As another poster has mentioned, patients tend to go to their dentist more often than their physician and we have a chance of detecting diseases before physicians due to the fact that we see the patients more frequently than the physician does. This applies to multiple diseases that manifest in the oral cavity, which we would then notice and refer the patient to a physician. In the same way, a patient may not know he/she has hypertension till the dentist takes his/her blood pressure and informs them that it is high. This actually happened to me a few months ago. I had a patient who had a blood pressure reading that was off the charts. I took it multiple times during the appointment and it was still high. I sent her home because we can't treat a patient with such high readings, then brought her back in a few days (just in case it was due to anxiety, etc.). Her readings were still abnormally high, so I referred her to her physician, and she is now taking Lisinopril for her hypertension. So while dentists are just seen to treat the patient's mouth, we are concerned about a patient's overall health as well. In addition, if a patient has high blood pressure, it affects the procedures we will do on them and the type of anesthesia we give them. If a patient has high blood pressure, I use an anesthetic that doesn't have epinephrine (because epinephrine will constrict the blood vessels and further increase the patient's blood pressure). Basically, it is important to be aware of the patient's health before we work on them. If it's something non-invasive such as a simple exam or cleaning, it's not as big of a deal. However, we still take vitals on every patient at every visit just in case. This keeps us informed and helps us to make the best decisions about the patient's care.

Dentists have been taking my blood pressure since I turned 14. It's just standard for every visit. I didn't know they didn't measure blood pressure at other places.

Eat less salt have more sex

It really is strange that a dentist is taking your blood pressure

Can't say I blame him

he took your blood pressure? O.o

I would ask why the dentist was taking your blood pressure. Maybe contact the head of the company or something.

Why would a dentist take somebody's blood pressure?

Is ur boy friend Sherlock by any chance? He has a point you know...

He's not alone.