What began as a routine dental appointment for an 84-year-old woman seeking relief from an ill-fitting denture turned into a series of medical discoveries that may have saved her life.
Dr. Steven Bienstock, owner of Coastline Dental Care, in Oceanside, was reviewing a panoramic dental X-ray for Patricia Perricone in early March when he noticed something unusual beyond her mouth. The image appeared to show calcifications near the carotid artery, a finding that can indicate plaque buildup and an increased risk of stroke.
Rather than dismissing the discovery, Bienstock urged Perricone to follow up with her physician for further evaluation.
That recommendation set off a chain of medical appointments that revealed far more than anyone expected.
Vascular imaging found that Perricone had nearly 90 percent blockage of her left carotid artery and roughly 70 percent blockage of her right carotid artery. Additional testing also uncovered a 1-centimeter aneurysm behind the carotid arteries. As physicians prepared her for vascular surgery, preoperative cardiac testing revealed coronary artery blockages requiring three stents, along with a weakened aortic valve that continues to be monitored.
“It was pretty shocking and surprising,” said Bienstock, 36, who joined Coastal Dental in March 2025 after practicing dentistry for seven years. “The reason I wanted to share this story isn't because it's about one patient. It's about the role dentists play in overall health.”
Perricone, an Oceanside resident who wears dentures, visited the office because her bite had become uncomfortable. Since she no longer has natural teeth, Bienstock took a panoramic X-ray that captures the entire jaw, facial bones and surrounding structures rather than focusing on individual teeth.
"It's like looking at a globe instead of a local map," he explained. "You see a much bigger picture."
Although dentists occasionally identify calcifications on panoramic X-rays, Bienstock said they are trained to recognize findings that fall outside traditional dental concerns, and to refer patients for medical evaluation when appropriate.
Several weeks after the appointment, Bienstock received an emotional phone call from Perricone’s daughter, Jennifer Berenson.
"I was surprised because she was crying," he said. "I asked if everything was OK."
Instead, she was calling to thank him.
The vascular workup had uncovered the severe arterial blockages and aneurysm before the woman experienced symptoms.
"I actually got teary-eyed," Bienstock said. "As a dentist, you don't think of yourself as someone who saves lives. We treat teeth, infections and oral disease. But this reminded me why we have 'doctor' in front of our name."
Berenson said the findings came as a complete surprise.
"My mom is asymptomatic," the 53-year-old said. "We had no idea. She's 84, and we just thought she was slowing down because of her age."
After Bienstock contacted the family about the X-ray findings, Berenson immediately scheduled an appointment for her mother with a vascular specialist. Within a week, Perricone was undergoing testing that revealed the extensive blockages and aneurysm.
The vascular surgery has since been delayed because she developed pneumonia, but Perricone remains under close medical supervision while recovering. In the meantime, physicians have treated her heart disease with three coronary stents and placed her on medications to reduce her stroke risk.
Berenson said she never imagined a dentist would identify a potentially life-threatening condition.
"Everybody I tell is amazed," she said. "Even members of my family who own a dental lab couldn't believe that a dentist found this."
She added that Bienstock continued checking on her mother's recovery long after the initial referral, calling several times to ask how she was doing.
"He's just incredibly caring," Berenson said. "He didn't have to keep following up, but he did."
Bienstock hopes the experience reminds people that oral health is closely connected to overall health.
"The mouth is the pathway to the body," he said. "We see many diseases that first manifest in the mouth or show signs there. We've helped identify diabetes, sleep apnea and gastrointestinal issues because patients had changes they didn't realize were significant."
He worries that many people skip routine dental visits because they believe they only need to see a dentist when they have a toothache.
"People think, 'My tooth doesn't hurt, so I don't need to go,'" he said. "That's simply not true."
For Berenson, the experience reinforced the value of preventive care.
"It really renewed our trust in health care," she said. "This one appointment led to finding things that could have been catastrophic if they had gone undetected."
She hopes her family's experience encourages others to keep up with regular dental visits.
"The checkups are such a big deal," she said. "They saved my mom's life."
