The Science of Dentistry

Healthy Gums

Want a healthier smile? Then don’t forget your gums. Gum disease can lead to tooth loss and is linked to heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. The good news: In addition to regular brushing and flossing, new research shows that eating certain foods will get your gums into tip-top shape. Add these smile-savers to your menu:

Oral DNA Labs

This summer my office added the My Perio Path test from Oral DNA Labs to our tool kit for improving our ability to diagnose and treat periodontal diseases.

Gum Disease

The most common form of bone loss is not osteoarthritis or osteoporosis – it’s periodontal or gum disease.  And with three-quarters of the population expected to experience it you can imagine the costs associated with it.

Green Tea Gum Disease

It has been scientifically proven that green tea helps maintaining healthy gums and teeth.

Chronic Periodontits

Let’s talk about periodontal disease, the truth and the misconceptions.  Here’s a misconception. You or your dentist missed something, so as a result, you now have a disease. Could that be true? Only if you believe that people get heart attacks because their doctors miss something or people get cancer because their doctors miss something, or asthma or Alzheimer’s, etc.

Chronic Periodontits

Periodontal disease affects the thin crevice between the gums and teeth called the sulcus. This causes the attachment of the tooth and nearby tissue to disintegrate, causing a pocket that becomes deeper as the disease worsens.

Obestiy and Gum Disease

A group of researchers from the Case Western University School of Dental Medicine found that people are better able to fend off  gum disease when inflammation triggering fat cells are lost from the body.

Periodontitis

Periodontitis means “inflammation around the tooth” – it is a serious gum infection that damages the soft tissue and bone that supports the tooth.  All periodontal diseases, including periodontitis, are infections which affect the periodontium.

Smoking Gum Disease

According to a new study, smoking causes the body to turn against its own helpful bacteria, leaving smokers more vulnerable to disease.

Gum Disease

Considering it’s one of the major causes of tooth loss, it’s pretty difficult to spot the signs of gum disease. Links between gum disease and, in some cases, life-threatening illnesses are constantly developing, so taking care of your gums is vitally important.

Hockey is not the leading cause of tooth loss

If someone asked you what the #1 cause of tooth loss is, what would you guess?  If you’re like most people, you would probably guess that it’s cavities. Unfortunately…you’d be wrong.

Erectile Dysfunction

Gum disease may have an impact on the ability to achieve an erection, the British Dental Health Foundation has reported.  The independent charity based its report on the latest research published in the Journal of Periodontology and suggests that the cause of erectile dysfunction could be oral bacteria passing into the bloodstream.

It appears that plain, simple yogurt may be the newest superhero in our ongoing battle against gum disease. Researchers at Kyushu University in Japan studied nearly a thousand subjects between the ages of 40 and 79, and found that those with higher intakes of lactic acid foods like yogurt exhibited significantly fewer signs of periodontal (gum) disease. The study concluded that regularly eating yogurt may help keep your gums and teeth healthy.

The differences between men and women are extensive, especially when it comes to taking care of one’s health. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), compared to men, women are better about seeing their physician for routine check-ups and are more likely to schedule a doctor visit when feeling sick or injured. And now, new research published in the Journal of Periodontology reveals another area where women are more proactive than men: in maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

Have you ever used floss, rinsed out your mouth and seen some pink in the sink after spitting?  This is extremely common, but why does it happen?  To better understand why bleeding happens after flossing, let’s first go into depth about how the gum tissue works and reacts to different things.

Smoking Marijuana

Smoking marijuana, much like smoking tobacco, may increase a person’s risk for gum disease that can lead to tooth loss, researchers said on Tuesday.

Katie Couric Smile

For some strange reason, Katie Couric’s smile has always bothered me.  Don’t get me wrong, she is a beautiful woman and I have a tremendous amount of respect for her, but one would think that someone would have told her that when she smiles she shows too much of her gums.  As a periodontist, I not only treat all different types of gum diseases and place dental implants, but I also do a lot of periodontal plastic surgery procedures. 

"Trench Mouth"

Acute Necrotizing Ulcerative Gingivitis (ANUG), more commonly known as “trench mouth” for its common occurrence among soldiers in the trenches during World War I, is a painful gum disease caused by the gram negative bacteria known as spirochetes.

Oral Plastic Surgery

Recent advances in periodontal plastic surgery techniques, such as periodontal regeneration, root coverage procedures with gum graft surgery, and procedures combined with dental extractions or post extraction for dental implant site development, have significantly improved the ability to restore damaged periodontal (gum) tissues.  Early diagnosis is critical to periodontal disease management and offers a patient the best chance of preserving their natural teeth.

Whoopi Goldberg

Several months ago, Whoopi Goldberg returned to her TV show, “The View,” after being absent for gum surgery. In this episode, she spent a few minutes discussing her personal experience with gum disease and how she will be losing her teeth. But, more importantly, Whoopi did a tremendous public service by bringing up the serious health consequences of gum disease (periodontal disease) that go well beyond losing teeth. New discoveries are revealing possible connections between gum disease and heart disease, stroke, diabetes, premature births, erectile dysfunction and cancer, for example.

Tooth Splinting

It is important for you to see your dentist or a periodontist for a detailed assessment and correct diagnosis of what is causing your teeth to be loose. However, many times patients need to have their teeth splinted (dental splinting) as the end result of periodontal (gum) disease, in which bone that normally supports the teeth (together with the periodontal ligament that attaches bone to the teeth) is progressively lost.

Perio Protect®

Perio Protect^® is a custom-fit tray made by a specialized dental laboratory from impressions of the patient’s mouth taken by a dentist. The company states that, “Perio Protect® is a comprehensive method that is customized for individual patients to help manage biofilms, communities of bacteria, growing in the spaces or pockets between teeth and gum tissue. The overall goal of the Perio Protect Method™ is to manage oral biofilm with minimally invasive dentistry for lasting oral health.”

Fish Oil

Eating even moderate amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, typically found in foods such as salmon and other fatty fish, may help fight gum disease, new research suggests.

Gum Enlargement

Throughout your life, you may notice that your gums may sometimes get bigger from time to time.  There are many different reasons that your gums may be enlarged.  While it is widely known that if you don’t brush your teeth and floss regularly, you can develop gingivitis, which is an inflammation of the gums.  However, there are also many other reasons your gums may be getting bigger.  I mention seven of the more common reasons below, and then in the final paragraph I mention a few more less common causes of gingival (gum) enlargement.

Gum Recession

Gum Grafting is a procedure used to replace/restore missing and/or receded gum tissue.