Category: <span>General</span>

A Valentine for Your Actual Heart: Treating Gum Disease for Heart Health

It’s Valentine’s season again, which means proclamations of love, pictures of Cupid and chocolates are everywhere. Whether you find the Valentine’s Day sentiments romantic or annoying, you can use those candy hearts as a reminder to take care of your actual heart’s health.

Research has led to a perceived connection between gum disease and heart health. Your body’s inflammatory response to gum disease may cause hardened gum disease and hardened arteries, which is a primary symptom of heart disease. It’s theorized that bacteria from the mouth may also enter the bloodstream due to the inflammation, wreaking havoc on other parts of the body, including the heart.

This research, as well as the fact that those with gum disease are twice as likely to have heart disease, has made dental professionals sit up and take notice of the connection — both for their patients and themselves.

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Own It! 4 Steps to Being Part of the Solution for Gum Disease

As a general dentist, I’m the first line of defense for periodontal (gum) disease. When patients come in, one of the first things we do is check to make sure their gums are healthy. When I diagnose a patient with periodontal disease, my goal is for them to understand the disease and then “own it”. We have to work together to keep it from moving to advanced stages.

Gum disease is personal for me. It has impacted my family – even since I’ve become a dentist my dad and grandfather have lost teeth to gum disease. Every day I try to find a solution for gum disease so my patients don’t have to experience the same thing.

Most of my patients don’t realize they have gum disease. Either they haven’t had a periodontal probing, or they don’t know what the numbers mean. And when patients don’t know what the numbers mean, they can’t help fight gum disease.  This is why it’s so important for dentists to educate patients about gum disease – and for patients to ask questions and learn more.

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Breaking Down the Various Forms of Gum Disease

Most people just don’t know much about gum disease — hence the creation of this very website.  In addition to knowing the signs and symptoms of gum disease, it’s important to understand that gum disease has different degrees of severity, and proper treatment depends on which stage of gum disease is present.

Recently, the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) released an updated set of classifications for periodontitis (aka, gum disease). These new classifications are meant to help clinicians explain treatment plans to patients and then identify treatments appropriate at each level. The report comes as a result of the 2017 World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions, and is the first update to the classifications in almost 20 years!

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What’s in a Treatment? The Differences Between Laser Treatments for Gum Disease

Picture it: You’re settling into your dentist’s chair for an appointment. It’s probably been too long since your last visit. After the hygienist and doctor work on you, you get the news: you have advanced gum disease. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill gingivitis; it’s been slowly destroying the bone around your teeth and you’re going to have to have surgery to correct it before it wreaks havoc on your mouth and the rest of your health, as well.

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One Patient’s Journey: An Interview with Tonya About Gum Disease

Tonya had been battling with gum disease all of her adult life. Instead of getting expensive dental implants, she chose to have it treated with the LANAP protocol after hearing about it from her friend. We chatted with her about her experiences with gum disease, why she chose to get treatment and what life is like after the procedure.

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Gum Disease Awareness Month: 3 Reasons Why You Should Care

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