GUM DISEASE CAN CAUSE STROKES AND HEART DISEASE

We floss our teeth to help prevent gum disease and cavities so why worry about heart disease and strokes?
In the Oct. issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine researchers also found that people with severe gum disease have 2X the risk of suffering strokes. The link apppears even stronger than that between heart disease and gum disease.
Other studies by doctors at the University of Heidleberg in Germany linked an increase in heart disease and strokes to dental infections. Gum Disease actually doubled the stoke rate. The finding was published in the Journal of Stroke. The feeling is that bacteria that grows and is associated with gum disease contibutes to heart disease and strokes. Preventing gum disease and the growth of bacteria associated with dental disease should be the goal for every dentist and patient. I have written in the past about smoking and its’ association with gum and heart disease. At our office, we treat gum disease first non-surgically. We use microscopes to help identify the bacteria associated with gum disease.

How do you know if you have Gum Disease ?

You brush your teeth twice a day, you feel good, and look good. You have no pain in your mouth. Is everything OK?
Not necessarily.
Over 40 million people have some form of gum disease and don’t know it. Recently, a study of a group of patients reviled that over 50 percent of the patients had gum disease. So what is all the fuss.
Periodontal Disease (also known as Gum Disease and Pyorrhea) is the leading cause of tooth loss after 35 years of age. The sad part is that it can be prevented with regular dental visits and good home dental care.
The disease can start as early as childhood and can take root in your teens and early twenties. The easiest way to treat gum disease is by preventing it. Gum disease is usually a painless disease. By the time most people find out they have it, it's too late and their teeth have loosened or have started to fall out.
Three things are necessary to cause gum disease:
1. Tooth
2. Food
3. Bacteria
The food and bacteria cause a cheese-like substance to form called plaque. This plaque if left on the tooth more than 24 hours forms a hard deposit called calculus or tartar. This tartar acts like a splinter and infects the gums unless it is removed. When calculus forms it is very difficult to remove and should be removed by a dentist. Since it takes 24 hours for plaque to form, flossing and brushing daily are the best measures to use to prevent disease and the formation of calculus. Also, regular twice a year visits to the dentist for cleanings are important to remove calculus which might have been missed.
How do you know you have gum disease and how your dentist detects it should be common knowledge. A dentist should examine your gums thoroughly each time he examines your teeth. The color of the gums are checked, bleeding indexes are taken, pocket probings are done, gum recession is determined, evaluation of the type of remaining gum tissue is done, and in some cases bacterial cultures are taken.
Healthy gums are usually pink in color and have the texture of an orange (stippled), darker in dark complexion people. When there is infection in the gums they usually turn red. This redness usually starts between the teeth and can be in part or all of the mouth. Sometimes in painful cases as in "trench mouth" they can turn white and sloughed off (scraped) and be wiped away. This can also be found sometimes in smokers as well. As a magenta color can indicate a long term (chronic) infection. We can also see blue gums, usually around poor fitting caps (crowns) or bridges.
We also probe the gums with a thin steel calibrated (marked) instrument to determine if the gums have bleeding problems, and the extent of gum and bone loss. In some cases we even take a sample of the gum fluid to determine the kind of infection and the type of bacteria present.
All this information is evaluated with a good past medical history to diagnose the type of gum disease and treatment. The treatment can range from as simple as a cleaning to more involved like removing infected gum tissue. Most important to remember is that the longer you wait the harder it is to treat gum disease and more costly. Most insurance will reimburse you at 80 percent for gum therapy.
If you have not been to a dentist for a few years, you will be pleasantly surprised at many new techniques to treat gum disease.