Nationwide Awareness Campaign and Call for Dental Screening for HHT in Germany
Nationwide Awareness Campaign and Call for Dental Screening for HHT in Germany
HHT is a relative rare autosomal dominant inherited disorder of the fibrovascular tissue.
 Diagnosis of HHT is often delayed for decades (Pierucci 2012). However, it would be desirable
 to achieve an early diagnosis as early screening and treatment decrease disease-associated
 complications and increase life expectancy (Kroon 2018). Our approach is a nationwide call
 and awareness campaign to dentists in Germany, as nearly all persons visit a dentist from
 time to time. This approach is promising to us, as most patients develop nosebleeds and
 multiple, typical telangiectases of the skin or mucosa. A predilection site is the oral
 mucosa and the face, including the lips (Shovlin 2000).
The German self-help group is taking down the number of inquiries from patients and
 physicians per months since April 2017. In June 2018 an article about HHT is planned to be
 published in the journal of the German dental association and the Federal Association of Fund
 Dentists of Germany. This journal is distributed to all dentists in Germany and is a set book
 for them. Total circulation in 2017 was 77,621
 (http://www.aerzteverlag.de/portfolio/fachwissen-medizindental/zm-zahnaerztliche-mitteilungen
 /profil/ ). The article describes the case of visceral abscesses after dental screening in a
 patient with HHT and pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. These could probably have been
 prevented if the dentist had prescribed an antibiotic prophylaxis to the patient. The article
 includes a call to search for telangiectases. If those are seen the dentist is recommended to
 ask the patient if he or relatives have nosebleeds. If both apply, the dentist is asked to
 inform the patient about HHT and give him the address of the national German self-help group.

 After 3 and 6 months a reminder shall be published in the same journal.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  patients having telangiectasia and nosebleeds or nosebleeds in the family

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -