Protect the Health of Your Smile with Periodontal Treatment 

As a commitment to protecting our patients' general health, as well as oral health, we are proud to offer effective, comprehensive periodontal treatment at our Slidell practice. Gum disease, or more accurately, periodontal disease, is a silently-destructive infection involving as many as 500 types of germs in your mouth that also can attack the organs of your body. 

According to published statistics, over 60,000,000 people in the U.S.A. have symptoms of periodontal (gum) disease, a slowly-developing bacterial infection that affects your gums and the bone that supports your teeth. As gum disease continues unchecked, bacterial waste products slowly destroy your gum tissue. Eventually, the bacteria break through and enter your bloodstream. The bacteria and their by-products trigger an inflammatory reaction throughout the body. For seniors, children and anyone with a weakened immune system, this negative factor might be the element with a cumulative effect on their pre-existing medical conditions.

Research results also show that any treatment you are receiving for numerous medical conditions like cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease such as emphysema or COPD, diabetes, orthopedic replacement, kidney disease, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and pregnancy might be hindered by micro-organisms from periodontal disease.

The Red Flags of Periodontal Disease

• Bleeding gums after brushing your teeth
• Gums bleeding after flossing
• Sore, red or swollen gums
• Wobbly and/or loose teeth
• Gums receding around the teeth
• Never-ending sour breath (halitosis)
• Pus or white film between the teeth
• Pain when biting down or chewing
• Recent change in your bite
• New spaces between your teeth
• Finding food packed up in your gums

Experts Are Now Recommending Periodontal Therapy To Avoid Heart Disease

By coming to see our hygienists to help prevent periodontal disease, you are saying, “No” to developing heart disease. 

Understand that the way that gum disease affects your heart is that periodontal disease initiates a chain of chemical events that build inflammation, or swelling, in the body’s vital systems. When plaque lining the arteries causes the arteries to become inflamed, blood clots can form, bringing about heart attack or stroke. Plus, periodontal bacteria may also adhere to the inner heart lining, initiating infective endocarditis.

For the past decade, a number of studies have concluded that there is a proven connection between periodontal disease and coronary heart disease. One result of unchecked periodontal disease is the loss of teeth. After the gums have been diseased long-term, your teeth will fall out.

Finnish researchers began to investigate the connection between the number of missing teeth in a person and the rate of diagnosed heart disease in the group. They looked at over 1300 men aged 45 to 64 years. The researchers discovered that those men with a higher number of missing teeth from sustained oral infections resulting from periodontal disease also had a greater likelihood of having heart disease. Their conclusions? Gum disease has been found to increase the risk of heart attack by as much as 25 percent. It increases the occurrence of stroke by 1000%.

With Periodontal Disease, Each Breath Might Be A Threat To Your Lungs

According to the Centers for Disease Control, people with chronic periodontal disease are most often affected by pneumonia. So, making a periodontal therapy and hygiene appointment is a smart move in reducing your chance of coming down with pneumonia and getting really sick.

Diabetes Encouraged By Oral Infection

Chronic bacterial and/or viral diseases bring about an increase in your body’s resistance to insulin, which disrupts blood sugar control. For those with diabetes, further infection exacerbates insulin resistance and significantly worsens your ability to keep blood sugar levels in balance. Periodontal disease and diabetes are entangled with each other. Anyone with diabetes should look into having a thorough oral health examination. Of course, the opposite is true as well. If you have periodontal disease, you should be very watchful for signs of diabetes.

Did you know:

• The American Diabetes Association states periodontal disease causes diabetes.
• Chemicals from gum disease that cause inflammation invade the bloodstream and increase insulin resistance.
• Family members with periodontal disease are 2 times as likely to have insulin resistance.
• Type II diabetics have a 7 times greater mortality rate when they have severe periodontal disease.

What This All Means To Dentists

Yesterday, dentists vowed to save your teeth through regular dental care. From now on, there is a broader dimension to dental care. If you have an inflammatory condition like periodontal disease, you’re in danger of developing more serious systemic problems, whether it’s heart problems, diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis. From now on, as we care for your teeth, not only do we save your teeth, which in itself is a very good goal, we might just be saving your life as well.

Dr. Appleton concludes, “It is not enough anymore to just attend to trouble spots in the gums. Instead, attacking gum disease aggressively will become a top priority for maintaining, and improving our patients’ overall health and their enjoyment of life. In fact, it will mean that if our patients’ teeth and gums are not healthy, we can assume that they are not healthy overall.”