Periodontal Disease – Periodontal Specialist of Montana

Jun 06 12

Periodontal Disease Is Linked to Diabetes and Heart Disease

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Did you know that Periodontal Disease is more than bacteria in your mouth? It’s true, but we don’t often think of periodontal disease when it comes to Diabetes and Heart Disease. Inflammation within the body is responsible for both oral disease and other systemic bodily diseases, which means that it is vital to your health to treat the inflammation from periodontal disease as well as inflammation from other diseases. Here are a few reasons that periodontal disease can occur if you have one of these diseases.

Diabetes

Periodontal disease is common in diabetics. The cause of periodontal disease in diabetics is the bodies inability to fight infection. If you have diabetes, you are at greater risk for Periodontal Disease. In order to manage periodontal disease, it is recommended that you manage your diabetes well. On the flip side, if you don’t manage your periodontal disease, it may be more difficult for you to control your blood sugars.

Heart Disease

Periodontal Disease is also common in people who have Heart Disease. If you don’t treat your gum disease, then it could increase your risk for heart disease, it’s that simple. If you have heart disease and you’re not treating your gum disease, then it can exacerbate your existing heart conditions.

Arthritis

In many ways, periodontitis and arthritis are very similar diseases. Recent research is now indicates that periodontal disease may be a trigger for causing arthritis to attack other joints. If you have family history of arthritis it is important to begin screenings for periodontal disease in your 30’s.

Other bodily conditions associated with Periodontal Disease

Open angle glaucoma has recently been associated with periodontal disease. The bacteria that cause bone loss also cause the blood vessels on the eye to malfunction contributing to this sight robbing condition.

Osteoporosis is linked with a loss of bone in the jaw, which causes problems in your mouth. You can lose your teeth due to osteoporosis because of bone loss; the foundation of all of the teeth in your mouth.

There are some respiratory diseases are linked to gum disease, because often bacteria in the mouth is inhaled into the lungs. Which would make you put you at greater risk for pneumonia.

If you think that you might have periodontal disease, schedule an appointment today with your Periodontal Specialist. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Feb 16 20

Maximum, Not Snapshot, BMI Is Best Predictor of Mortality

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Pam Harrison January 12, 2016

Capturing an individual’s weight at a single “snapshot” in time significantly and consistently underestimates mortality risk attributable to obesity because it fails to factor in high-risk, illness-related weight loss in the formerly obese, new research indicates.

The work shows that past obesity is a marker for higher death rates in the same way that former smoking can be, say the researchers.

“It’s not the case that intentional weight loss raises your risk for death,” investigator Andrew Stokes, PhD, Boston University School of Public Health, Massachusetts, told Medscape Medical News. “Rather, we found that weight losers as a group are at higher risk of dying because of illness-associated weight loss.”

“By using maximum body mass index [BMI], we were able to distinguish between low-risk individuals whose weight never exceeded the normal-weight category and higher-risk individuals who were formerly overweight or obese. This simple step shows that obesity is more dangerous than is commonly appreciated.”

The study was published online January 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Use Maximum Lifetime BMI for Highest Mortality Risk

Together with Samuel Preston, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Dr Stokes examined the association between excess weight and mortality using data from the 1988–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) that were linked to death records through 2011.

A key independent variable in their analysis was lifetime maximum BMI, based on a question in NHANES that asks respondents to recall their maximum lifetime weight, excluding weight during pregnancy. The sample was restricted to adults between 50 and 74 years of age at the time of the survey.

In total, 39% of NHANEs participants who had previously been in a higher BMI weight category had migrated down into the normal-weight category over time.

As Drs Stokes and Preston point out, this is a large volume of individuals and this downward flow from higher BMI classes to the normal-weight category clearly has the capacity to change survival outcomes of the normal-weight class.

They then compared the effect on all-cause mortality risk of using participants’ BMI at the time of the survey only (model 1) with the effect that maximum lifetime BMI had on all-cause mortality risk (model 2)

“In both models, each higher BMI category above the normal-weight category carried with it succeedingly higher mortality,” they point out.

“However, the degree of excess mortality associated with a particular BMI category was higher when that category referred to maximum weight rather than survey weight.”

When maximum weight was used instead of the one-time snapshot of participants’ BMI, the risks associated with overweight increased from 10% to 19% while for those in obese class I, mortality risk increased from 47% to 65% and for those in obese class II, mortality risk increased from 72% to 149%.

Hazard Ratios for All-Cause Mortality According to BMI at Survey vs Maximum Lifetime BMI
BMI category	Model 1: Survey BMI (Estimated HR)	Model 2: Maximum lifetime BMI (Estimated HR)
Normal weight	1.00	1.00
Overweight	1.10	1.19
Obese class 1 (30-34.9 kg/m2)	1.47	1.65
Obese class II (≥35 kg/m2)	1.72	2.49
Further Findings: Consider Past Weight The authors also calculated hazard ratios for mortality using two other models that combined data on weight at the time of the survey and maximum weight. In these, they differentiated between individuals who were at their maximum weight at the time of survey and those who were below their maximum weight at the time of survey. Results showed that people who lost weight were at a greater risk of dying than those who remained in the higher weight class they had previously occupied. Drs Stokes and Preston also examined the prevalence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease among participants. For both conditions, people who had moved to a lower BMI class had a higher prevalence of both diseases than those who remained in a higher BMI class. “The high prevalence of both diabetes and CVD among people moving to lower BMI classes demonstrates that weight loss is often associated with illness,” the authors emphasize. “An analogy to smoking makes it clear why it’s important to consider past as well as present weight when studying the effects of obesity on mortality,” Dr. Stokes explained. “If you were to compare smokers and nonsmokers, you might arrive at the conclusion that smoking is beneficial and the reason is that the nonsmoking group may include a large number of former smokers whose mortality risk is elevated,” he added. To avoid this bias, Dr. Stokes points out that studies investigating the effects of smoking on death rates have long distinguished between nonsmokers who never smoked and former smokers (nonsmokers who smoked in the past and quit). “Surprisingly, this distinction is rarely made in studies on obesity,” he observed. “And as a result, the effects of obesity on mortality have been consistently underestimated.” Neither Dr Stokes nor Dr Preston had relevant financial relationships. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. Published online January 4, 2016. Abstract

Dec 09 80

Hooka smoking more dangerous than cigarettes

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PR Newswire, CHICAGO, October 28, 2015
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.3 million Americans smoke tobacco from pipes, and many of those who smoke waterpipes, or hookahs, believe it’s less harmful than cigarettes. However, research published in The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) suggests hookah smoking is associated with serious oral conditions including gum diseases and cancer.

“We found that waterpipe smoking is associated with serious health problems affecting the head and neck region,” said study author Teja Munshi, B.D.S., M.P.H of Rutgers University. “The public needs to know they are putting themselves at risk. They should be made aware of the dangers of smoking hookahs.”

The authors conducted a literature review that focused on waterpipe smoking and head and neck conditions. They found waterpipe smoking to be associated with gum diseases, dry socket, oral cancer and esophageal cancer among other conditions. According to the World Health Organization, smoking a hookah is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes, based on the duration and number of puffs in a smoking session.

“This study sheds light on the common misconception that smoking from a waterpipe is somehow safer than smoking a cigarette,” said JADA Editor Michael Glick, D.M.D. “Whether you are smoking a cigarette, an e-cigarette, a cigar, or tobacco from a waterpipe, smoking is dangerous not only to your oral health but to your overall health.”

Think hookahs are safer than cigarettes? @amerdentalassn JADA study tells another story. #hookah

The American Cancer Society is hosting The Great American Smokeout on November 19, 2015, an annual event that encourages smokers of all kinds to give up the habit. The event asks smokers to quit even for just one day to take a step toward a healthier life.

Millions of Americans still use traditional methods of smoking, but emerging trends in the smoking industry, such as hookah smoking and e-cigarettes pose dangers as well. E-cigarettes are devices that turn liquid into a vapor containing nicotine. In an editorial in the September 2015 issue of JADA, authors warned readers of the potential dangers of e-cigarettes, indicating that oral health effects of their use has been inadequately investigated.

“Additional research is needed on the impact smoking has on overall health, but it’s clear that smoking of all kinds has the potential to be dangerous,” said Dr. Glick.

Dentists have an important role in advising patients of the dangers of smoking. The American Dental Association has long been a proponent of educating the public about its hazards and has urged for continued research into the adverse health effects of tobacco use. For more information on smoking and its oral health effects, visit MouthHealthy.org.

Oct 16 92

Bacteria in Our Mouths That Causes Tooth Decay

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There are thousands of different types of bacteria that live within our mouths. Our tongues, gums, and teeth are loaded with them. Most bacteria within our bodies are very helpful, but some bacteria can cause our bodies problems. For instance, some types of bacteria that live in our mouths can cause tooth decay. Tooth decay happens when the bacteria in our mouths use the sugars in the foods that we eat, producing in an acid that can cause a cavity within a tooth. The bacteria can use sugars and also starches to produce acid. While it is widely regarded that foods such as candy and sugary drinks such as soda, juice and milk cause cavities, foods such as breads and pastas, which contain starches, also help the bacteria to produce acids.

A cavity develops through the constant exposure to acid. These prolonged exposures break down the enamel, removing its minerals; a small white spot on the tooth is evidence that this has occurred. Following an acid attack the enamel can harden again, by using minerals from saliva and fluoride. However if the acid attacks are too frequent or prolonged, decay can result.

Fluoride is very important to preventing tooth decay, because it can stop decay from progressing, but, also, fluoride can reverse or stop an early decay of the tooth. Fluoride is in our toothpastes and even in most community water supplies. Most bottled waters do not contain enough fluoride to prevent tooth decay, so if a person only drinks bottled water, fluoride should be supplemented in other ways.

Diet is very important to the prevention of tooth decay. Eat and drink sugary foods and drinks on special occasions. Try not to snack all day long; enamel needs some time to repair itself between meals. Do not eat or drink anything that contains sugar, after you have brushed your teeth for the night. Bacteria will have ample time to convert those sugars to acids while you sleep. Also, make sure to brush your teeth at least twice a day, and brush with fluoride toothpaste.

For more information on tooth decay and other dental related issues, please contact Healthy Gums Montana.

Oct 13 65

Procedure Focused versus Problem Focused Dentistry

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The first decision you must make is what dentist you are going to see. While individual practitioners have their specific approach to treatment, the fundamental issue for you is the choice between the Procedure Focused practices versus a Problem Focused office. Procedure focused offices tend to look at individual tooth problems, i.e drill and fill. You have pain from a particular tooth, the dentist treats that particular issue with minimal regard for other issues you may be unaware of. For many people the course of dental diseases is protracted over many years. This fact allows you to get away with a procedure focus for a while. However, this approach will often lead to more work needing to be redone in the future.

Problem focused practices (sometimes called Holistic practices) take into account the overall dental and medical conditions as well as potential future dental problems as part of making treatment decisions for the immediate concerns. This approach emphasizes the treatment and control of dental disease and the overall function of the dentition. Such an approach tends to address more than your immediate perceived problems but leads to more predictable restorations and avoidance of large-scale failures. Such practices emphasize a long term Doctor/Patient relationship compared to the episodic relationship of Procedure Focused practices based on emergent dental problems. This approach focus’ on the establishment and maintenance of dental health.

Is one approach better?
That depends on many factors. If your needs are minimal, procedure focused practices are very efficient in treating the few isolated concerns you may have. However in the early stages, most dental disease has minimal symptoms so patients are usually in a bad position to assess their needs. Waiting for symptoms such as pain and swelling means problems have progressed much further than they should have and treatment will be far more complicated.

Patients with several different dental problems tend to do better with Problem Focused practitioners. In this setting finding treatment solutions that achieve a harmony in addressing the multiple concerns is best. As we get older the complications from the accumulation of multiple past dental procedures tends to magnify. In adults the need to view cases in the entirety is essential to achieve the highest levels of success.

By their very nature, some dental specialties are more procedure oriented. Orthodontists, Oral Surgeons and Endodontists are specialty-trained dentists that are seen only when specific procedures are needed. Once the specific treatment is completed you return full time to your general dentist to continue care. Periodontists, Pedodontists, Prosthodontists tend to have longer-term relationships with their patients due to nature of the problems they deal with. You may still see your general dentist as part of your care as well.

Oct 04 46

What exactly are teeth?

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Sounds like a stupid question right? Nobody asks that question about hearts and livers. However few of us are really acquainted with this part of our bodies. This is in-part because the dental or stomatognathic system works well with few disruptions for most of our lives. This reliability also leads to the cultural view of what happens when the system goes on the fritz. Dental pain is one of the most debilitating pains a human being can experience. Prior to modern times, tooth pain had been represented in poems stories, art, and sculpture. We do not see the same for hip or knee pain.

Lets get acquainted
Teeth are one of the most amazing parts of the human body. They are composed of 3 specific hard tissues, Enamel, dentin and cementum. These occur nowhere else in the body. Dentin and cementum are related to bone but have a higher proportion of hard stuff (calcium and phosphorus) compared to bone. Enamel on the other hand is nearly pure mineral. So much so that for years nobody could figure out how it actually was made. Recently it has been shown that enamel is actually the original Nano-tech material. Once again millennia ago biology figured out how to do something that we humans are just beginning to understand.

Teeth are constructed similar to the windshield on your car and much for the same purpose: to limit breakage. Enamel is very hard second only to diamond. The problem with hard things is they tend to be brittle. If teeth were made only of enamel they would shatter. The dentin is the plastic layer, which can absorb the impact from biting, protecting the enamel from breakage. Enamel and dentin when formed correctly are capable of providing a lifetime of function.’

In order to function, teeth have to be attached to the jawbone. Teeth are not fused to the bone. They sit in a ligamentous joint that acts as a shock absorber. These ligaments insert into a specialized layer of the jawbone called the cribiform plate or bundle bone. This bone only forms in response to tooth development. This structure including the root, ligaments and bone that supports the teeth is referred to as the periodontal ligament or PDL for short.

Dentin and enamel, being much harder than bone, do not provide an adequate surface for ligaments from the bone to attach to the root: enter cementum. This third hard tissue is a layer of bone like tissue fused to the dentin of the root that provides attachment for the periodontal ligaments that attach to the bone. Teeth are not fused to the bone. They sit in a ligamentous joint that acts as a shock absorber. These ligaments insert into a specialized layer of the jawbone called the cribiform plate or bundle bone. This bone only forms in response to tooth development. This structure including the root, ligaments and bone that supports the teeth is referred to as the periodontal ligament or PDL for short.

The pulp:
Our lives may have been easier if dental pulp tissue did not exist. Dental pulp, also called the dental nerve is actually a neurovascular bundle consisting of and arteriole, vein and nerve tissue. This structure is left over from tooth development. This tissue supplies blood to the cells responsible for supplying nutrients and oxygen to the cells that produce the dentin. This process continues at a slow rate throughout our lives. The dental nerve actually serve a purpose in that it helps us sense how hard we are biting. This is one of the reasons why teeth lacking a living nerve are more likely to break.

The downside of having this nerve tissue inside teeth is pain. Unfortunately the only type of nerve receptor in the pulp are for pain. Not only are they pain nerves but they are slow reacting fibers. This means that it takes a lot of stimulation to get them to send messages but once they start they keep going which is the aspect that lends the special character to dental pain.

The Jaw bones
The jaw bones and other facial bones as well differ form the rest of the bones in the body.

Oct 04 57

Gum Disease

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Gum Disease is a common ailment afflicting good oral Health. The most common form of gum disease is gingivitis. The harmful effects of gingivitis are rarely felt by the person who has them, although if gingivitis remains untreated, it can lead to the much more severe periodontitis. Gingivitis can be caused by a multitude of factors such as diabetes, smoking, stress, inadequate nutrition, and even puberty. While poor oral health is a primary cause of gingivitis, it is not always the only factor. When a person is suffering from gingivitis, his gums will become red and swollen, and may even bleed from contact with foods, or a scrubbing from a toothbrush. After gingivitis is located, a professional cleaning of the teeth and gums followed by the use of an oral rinse in the home will most likely treat gingivitis.

Periodontitis is caused when plaque grows below the gum line, and the toxins from the plaque enflame the gum tissue and, eventually if left untreated, the enflamed gum tissue will separate from the teeth. Periodontitis can occur in adults and children, and it can be brought on by untreated gingivitis, or if a person is chronically unhealthy, genetically predisposed to the disease, or suffering from a systemic disease such as heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory disease. Periodontitis has an array of treatments based upon severity that begin with non- surgical treatments and end at plastic surgery. Periodontists are trained to treat the effects of periodontal disease, and have undergone three additional years of specialized training to learn to treat it.

To help prevent Periodontal Disease, a person should perform the daily habits of good, quality oral health such as brushing ones teeth and flossing. Also, remember that a good diet helps your body to stay healthy, and areas like your mouth benefit from a good diet as much as anywhere else. Also, if you are a smoker or if you use chewing tobacco, it will give you another reason to add to the long list of reasons why you should quit. Remember, while some people may not be able to prevent Periodontal disease, many people can help to prevent the disease by simply living healthy.

Oct 04 14

Restorative Dentistry

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Most people that take the time to brush and floss their teeth regularly and practice preventative dental care, may never experience severe dental problems. However, some people won’t brush regularly, develop oral diseases or have an accident and require restorative dentistry. Fortunately, dentistry techniques have come a long way and improved greatly. Learn what restorative dentistry is all about and how you might benefit.

What is Restorative Dentistry?

Many people don’t realize that gums and teeth just don’t have the ability to heal themselves when they become damaged or develop gum disease. What may start as a simple cavity that could easily be filled could turn into a broken tooth down the road. Gum disease won’t heal on its own; periodontal disease requires treatment. In many instances, the problems don’t go away, but actually worsen with time. These are just a couple of examples where people can benefit from restorative dentistry once damage occurs.

Restorative dentistry can greatly improve or enhance your smile, repair or replace missing teeth and improve the health of your gums.

Dental Bridges and Crowns

Bridges and crowns can be used to eliminate spaces where teeth are missing and greatly improve your chewing function as a result. This type of restorative dentistry not only improves functionality, but it improves aesthetics as well.

Dentures

Dentists can easily restore functionality to improve your bite with the installation of dentures. This restorative procedure is a radical change that can improve oral health.

Mouth Reconstruction

Thanks to improved dental procedures, dentists can make restorative changes for crowded teeth, blemished or decaying teeth and split or missing teeth.

Dental Implants

Dental implants are another popular option for people with missing teeth. Once they are properly fitted, patients can talk, eat and laugh easier and be assured they are tightly fastened to the jawbone.

The Benefits of Restorative Dentistry

Restore the health of your teeth.
Resolve and correct bite issues.
Alleviate pain.
Prevent the spread of decay.
Restore dental functions back to normal.
Stop and prevent teeth from shifting when teeth are missing.
Reduce or stop pain all together when chewing.
Correct speech impediments caused from missing teeth.
Help you to regain your self-esteem and self-confidence.
Improve your looks with a beautiful smile.

Whether you have a missing tooth or could benefit from a full mouth restoration, it might be worth a consultation with your dentist. Restorative dentistry has come a long way, and you might just be pleasantly surprised at the results.

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