YOUR CLEANING – AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR HEALTH

Prevention should serve as a lifestyle pattern for total health, not the least of which is dental health. Prevention in dentistry leads to improved long-term oral health and reduced dental costs. It encourages a bright smile, fresh breath, and an overall good feeling of personal security. Prevention is your insurance policy toward a healthier, pain-free, debt free lifestyle.

Our dental hygienists can provide an excellent service to assist you in the maintenance of your overall dental health. Your cooperation with her can serve to increase your knowledge of your present oral condition. When you keep your appointment with your hygienist, the following benefits will result:

* Your hygienist will customize a personal home care and preventive maintenance program for you and inform you of those dental products that are appropriate for your particular needs. You will be instructed in the proper methods of tooth brushing, flossing and adjunctive dental health devices.

* Your entire mouth will be thoroughly and carefully examined for gum disease, growths, lesions, and any abnormalities that would affect your general health.

* Your teeth will be cleaned and polished to remove plaque and tartar both above and below the gum line, eliminating bacteria that lead to cavities, bad breath, and gum disease.

* Fluoride will be applied to teeth to prevent decay (for children), and root sensitivity / root cavities for adults.

* Sealants can be easily applied to the chewing surfaces of children’s teeth as a protection against future decay.

For our periodontal maintenance patients, your hygienist will use her specialized cleaning instrument, the Cavitron, to not only remove tartar, but also flush bacteria and debris from the periodontal pockets. She will also irrigate and medicate those same pockets with Chlorohexidine Gluconate.

Dental disease is a silent invader, presenting itself in various forms (puffy, bleeding gums, cavities, oral cancer, and abscesses). Although your mouth may appear to be in good health at this time, stresses, body changes, life changes, medications, illness, and age can tax your immune system. Maintaining regular re-care appointments with your hygienist and follow-ups with Dr. Briscoe offer you the assurance that any problems in regard to your oral care will be addressed immediately.

Taking care of tomorrow’s problems today will give you tremendous peace of mind. If you have postponed or missed your last hygiene maintenance appointment, remember: it’s not just a cleaning, it’s an INVESTMENT in your overall health.

Periodontal Disease Facts and Reminders

Periodontal Disease Facts and Reminders
1. Plaque forms 20 seconds after eating and 20 minutes after brushing. It hardens into tartar in 24 hours and stays on your teeth.
2. Healthy gums DO NOT BLEED. If you have bleeding gums, pay more attention to your home care instructions. Salt water rinses can help sensitive and swollen gums (1 tsp. salt dissolved into one cup water). If your gums continue to bleed after a thorough home care routine, please contact our office. Go to www.lajolladental.com
3. Experiencing a bad taste or odor is a sign of gum disease/infection.
4. Mouthwashes have no effect on periodontitis. Some mouthwashes can reduce gingivitis.
5. When subgingival plaque reaches a certain threshold level, it produces periodontal disease. Periodontal Disease, therefore, occurs in episodes of activity and quiescenece. That is why daily removal of the bacteria in your mouth is important in reducing your risk of periodontal disease.

Periodontal Disease is a Silent Disease

Knowing all that we know about Periodontal Disease (PD), how is it that 75-80% of us are affected by it?
Periodontal Disease is a silent disease in that it does not hurt (until advanced stages) and can go undetected in its earliest stage. Too often, people don’t go to the dentist regularly and start to build up plaque between their teeth. If the person is not a flosser, the plaque starts to accumulate more and more between their teeth. The once healthy gums, pink and firm around each tooth, now start to become inflamed between the back teeth where the plaque is building up. With gingivitis now established, the bacteria residing in the plaque produce toxins that start to break down the attachment of the gums to the teeth. The body’s inflammatory response is to bring increased amounts of blood to those areas to fight off the toxins. The gums become puffy, tender and swollen, and can bleed easily with brushing and flossing (not likely any flossing is occurring in this person).
A cleaning at the dental office at this point could start to turn things around. Flossing and brushing would go a long way toward health. Of course, this person doesn’t have any pain, and is unaware of this situation.
Periodontitis sets in as the plaque by-products, the toxins, destroy the tissues that hold the teeth in the bone. The attachment of the gum to the root surfaces start to be destroyed and pockets develop between the gum and the teeth. The gums pull away from the teeth and recede. More plaque is now accumulating below the gum line in these pockets. Some of the plaque on the root surfaces is hardening into tartar. Like the barnacles forming on the piers at the ocean, the tartar is rough and more plaque sticks to the rough surfaces and become hardened. As the disease progresses, bone under the gums that anchors the teeth begins to dissolve away. The person may notice an unpleasant odor coming from their mouth – bad breath. The gums may bleed when brushing. At this point, with less bone anchoring the teeth and less gum tissue covering the roots, the teeth appear longer and are sensitive to cold and are more susceptible to decay.
In advanced periodontitis, the toxins deep in the pockets continue to destroy the periodontal ligaments and bone, causing the teeth to lose more support. Unless treated, the affected teeth become more mobile and may fall out.
The key, is to not let this all get started. Should you find yourself progressing down the path described above, work hard on brushing and flossing and get into the dental office for evaluation and necessary treatment. You do not have to lose teeth to periodontal disease!

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Risk Factors for Periodontal Disease

The risk factors that increase the chance of developing Periodontal Disease (PD) are many. Some of the major ones are:

**Genetics – Some people have a greater genetic predisposition to developing a more aggressive, severe type of Periodontal Disease. People with a family history of tooth loss and dentures should be diligent in their efforts to control PD.

**Tobacco – People that chew or smoke tobacco have a greater chance to develop PD, and the effects are usually greater – deeper gum pockets due to increased amounts of plaque and tartar; more loss of bone and soft tissue that support the teeth.

**Medical Conditions – Systemic (the whole body) diseases such as diabetes, cancer, HIV, blood cell disorders, and AIDS, and the treatment for some of these, can lower one’s resistance to infections, making PD more severe.

**Stress – Stress reduces the body’s natural defenses, including the ability to fight off infection. Thus, when under stress, you have an increased chance of developing PD.

**Medications – An increasing number of drugs (antidepressants, steroids, blood pressure drugs, cancer therapy drugs, some heart medications, some anti-epilepsy drugs) can decrease the saliva flow creating a drier mouth than normal. Saliva has a cleansing and protective effect on the gums and teeth. A lack of saliva allows plaque to accumulate on the teeth and gums and cause inflammation and decay.

**Hormonal Changes in Females – Puberty, pregnancy and oral contraceptives change the body’s hormone levels. These changes cause the gums to become hypersensitive to the slightest levels of plaque and tartar.

**Ill-fitting Dentistry – Old fillings, crowns, and bridges may harbor more plaque and increase the liklihood of developing periodontal disease.

**Crowded Teeth – The tongue rubbing on the back side of the teeth, and the cheeks and lips rubbing on the front side of the teeth, have a self-cleansing effect on the teeth. When the teeth are crowded and overlapped, this self-cleansing doesn’t happen very well, and there is an increased chance of decay and gum problems due to plaque retention.

**Insurance Dependency – People that count on their insurance for all the answers are often the patients with the most problems – gum problems, decay problems, and missing teeth problems. The insurance companies write the rule on whether they will have to pay out some of your premium dollars to help get you healthier. If you need to have your teeth cleaned 4 times a year and your insurance only pays for 2 times a year, it does NOT mean you can only get your teeth cleaned twice a year. DON’T be insurance dependent. In today’s market you want to maximize your insurance. But, insurance allowance is a help in covering some of the cost of treatment, not a pay-all.

Gingivitis

Gingivitis is inflammation of the gums caused by the prolonged presence of plaque and tartar on the teeth. The gums become red, puffy and swollen. Gingivitis is a mild form of gum disease that can be reversed with professional dental cleanings by our hygienist and daily brushing and flossing. The gums may bleed during the cleaning and initially when flossing. Gingivitis can be reversed (the inflammation eliminated) because it does not involve bone loss or gum recession.
When the gums are not treated (the person may be brushing but not flossing) the inflammation increases to a point in becomes periodontitis. Here, the plaque builds up below the gums forming pockets. The body’s natural immune system creates enzymes that fight the bacterial toxins within the pockets, but mechanical removal of the plaque and tartar are essential. Left untreated, with time the pockets become deeper, bone loss around the teeth occurs, and the gums recede. Sooner or later the teeth become loose.

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Periodontal Disease

We talked previously about periodontal disease and its effect on our overall health. Let’s take some time to explain what is periodontal disease (PD). Periodontal Disease ranges from simple gum inflammation (gingivitis), to serious disease that results in major damage to the soft tissue and bone that support the teeth (periodontitis). An estimated 75-80% of adults in America have some level of PD (epidemic proportions). Because there is no pain until the condition is at a very advanced stage, most people are not aware they are infected with PD. Our mouths are full of bacteria, which along with mucus and other particles (tissue particles, food particles), constantly form a sticky, colorless “plaque” on our teeth. Brushing and flossing help get rid of plaque which, if not removed, can harden into bacteria-harboring “tartar”. The tartar cannot be brushed away. It must be removed by a professional dental cleaning (Thank goodness for dental hygienists!)

See my website for more information on Periodontal Disease