Importance, Advantages, and Objectives of Taking and Recording Patient’s Medical History in Dentistry

Introduction: Taking and recording of medical – pharmacological histories of patients before dental procedures by dentists are extremely important and should be considered as a duty.This study aims to determine the importance, benefits, and aims of assessing the medical history in dental patients. Methods: This study was a narrative review which reviewed the studies published between 1980 and 2015 by using an electronic, academic and scientific resource approach with the following key words, including: Medical history, Dentistry, Patient, Aims and Benefits. At the end, the collected data were simply content analyzed. Results: In this study, 12 important and practical aims were identified in patients’ history, as follows: 1) Achieving a correct diagnosis, 2) Communicating with the patient, 3) Informing the patient, 4) Planning treatment, 5) Determining appropriate prognosis, 6) Managing the patient, 7) Keeping data, 8) Attaining communication between doctor and dentist, 9) Discovering preventive factors, 10) Preparing legal documentation, 11) Developing clinical studies, and 12) Providing educational programs. Conclusion: getting to know the patients means having more control on the patient and the disease and is the basis of making the right decisions and designing prevention and definite treatments, which have important benefits for both the physician and the patient. Key words: Dentistry, Patient, Medical history, Aims, Benefits