Tag Archive for: gum disease

Healthy Gums, Healthy Body

Lately, numerous amounts of questions have arisen on the topic concerning the connection between oral health and overall health. Does the former really affect the latter? How is someone possibly at risk for heart disease or low birth weight babies if the apparent problem is only in his/her mouth?

Our bodies are not a jumble of different mechanisms forming one walking, talking unit. Each of the body’s systems — the nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the endocrine system, etc. — work in unison to keep us living in steady homeostasis! If one system fails or malfunctions, it gradually leads to another system losing its ability to function properly, and it spirals downward from there.

Inflamed parts of your body can lead to further inflammation or infection in other parts. Periodontitis is the body’s response to harmful bacteria left in your mouth. Periodontitis — ahem gum disease, if severe enough and untreated long enough, will, in fact, set off other inflammatory mechanisms in your body, leading to such things as diabetes, cardiovascular (heart) disease, and preterm and low birth weight babies. And gum disease is common — it can happen to anyone.

Don’t ignore the significance of this link. Good oral hygiene is serious!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

You, Your Bite and Occlusal Disease

Occlusal disease is the fancy name for “bite disease”. What? How does one’s bite become diseased, you ask? Well, there are three types of bad things that can happen to your teeth: decay (cavities), gum disease, and bite disease. We’ve discussed the first two, so here goes occlusal (bite) disease.

Occlusal disease is the condition where your bite — the way your teeth come down onto each other — is uneven, crooked, or misaligned. You may not be able to bite down all the way or chew thoroughly, and your jaw muscles must work harder for these simple tasks. Because of the unevenness, some teeth are worn down faster than others, and further wearing, breaking, or chipping of teeth may occur. The extra work on the jaw muscles also causes pain all around the jaw, mouth, head, and neck. “Aging” teeth may not be aging at all — the wear and tear is because of a bite problem long left untreated. It’s a mess!

Occlusal disease is often hard to spot. Unlike cavities or gum disease, it’s not always visually apparent. What may appear to be a randomly broken tooth could be a more severe underlying problem… and fixing just that one tooth is not going to help if the whole jaw is misaligned.

Dentists trained at The Pankey Institute develop the eyes for recognizing bite problems, making it less of a mystery to solve if one finds himself suffering the symptoms. Much research goes into fixing the problem; casts and models of your teeth are made so the dentist can see where the problem lies and how it can be adjusted (bite analysis). Occlusal disease also ties directly into bioesthetic dentistry and treating TMJ disorders. A simple, non-surgical tweaking of the muscles (most often used with a MAGO, or mouthguard-looking splint that helps “train” the muscles to realign in the correct positions) may very well be the solution to chewing food without harming your skull, and preserving functional, straight teeth well into your later years.

 

Further Insight On Gum Disease

When we check for signs of gum disease, we use a thin, tiny ruler to measure the depth of these “gaps”, or “pockets”, along your gumline. This can give us an idea of how well your teeth and gums are doing healthwise. Healthy gums and healthy teeth have pockets that measure at 3mm or less, which is equal to slightly less than 1/8 in. However, at around 3mm, early stages of gingivitis (fancy name for the first progression of full-on gum disease) may appear: the swelling, redness, and sensitivity of gums may start becoming a bother. From there, the pocket deepens as the infection grows, slowly separating the tooth from the gum tissue. This is how the tooth becomes loose or how it eventually falls out; the tooth’s root is in serious danger!

Another thing to consider is that these acidic bacteria and their acidic waste (yes, their waste, as in feces!) can become trapped in this pocket between tooth and gums. The gums, most likely, are already pretty swollen, so any deep-cleaning is painful to begin with, which leaves the bacteria to continue multiplying and rotting your tooth. Getting an ozone cleaning will help out with this a little bit, but it’s always the price to pay for poor oral hygiene habits (…or the lack thereof).

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Back to the Basics

Last week we had a staff meeting in the early afternoon, and we talked about gum disease.

I’ve blogged about this before… but did I really make the point clear about what gum disease is? Do YOU know exactly what it is? Let me explain in simple English:

There is a space or small gap in between your gums and your teeth, right where you see the gums meet your teeth (where you are supposed to floss). When bad bacteria are not cleaned out of these gaps — or “pockets”, as we call them — the gums may swell up, start hurting, or turn red and sensitive. The spaces grow bigger, slowly deepening and separating from the tooth. The tooth is also slowly being eaten away by this bacteria and its acidic waste. After a while, if nothing is done about it, this turns into a serious infection that can and will cause loose teeth, tooth loss, and many other painful complications that could have been easily avoided.

Brush and floss your teeth!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Ozone and Periodontal Disease

I just went over how ozone is beneficial to the root canal therapy procedure, but it definitely doesn’t stop there. Ozone’s uses for treating periodontal disease (a.k.a. gum disease) are numerous as well.

Periodontal disease can develop as a result of a number of causes, one of them most commonly being a simple lack of thorough and committed brushing and flossing of teeth. Other causes, such as tooth damage, injury, bad habits (smoking, tobacco, junk food, etc.), or another present disease. Symptoms of periodontal disease and gum recession might even be an allergic reaction to a certain food, substance, or medication; but that is something that should be looked into by your physician. The symptoms of gum disease might range from mere gum soreness or inflammation to severe deterioration of hard and soft tissues in and around the mouth. If left untreated, it can lead to tooth loss.

There are a few options for treatment, depending on the severity of the case: a deep-cleaning or surgery. Both require absolute sterility to be successful and to heal properly, and, of course, this is where ozone is again put to work. Ozone attacks and eliminates the bacteria and infectious organisms, providing successful treatment and a healthy environment for quick healing. Ozone is safe for the whole body and leaves no side effects or allergic reactions like medications or drugs do.

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

Benefits of Bioesthetic Dentistry

(Taken from my website:)

“Bioesthetic dentistry takes the remedial treatment of each tooth to the comprehensive treatment of the entire body. Our diagnosing methodologies show us why you have broken down or worn teeth. Then we provide the means to regain the length, shape and appearance of your teeth, before they became worn or broken down.

“Based on the natural biologic form, Bioesthetic Dentistry works by arranging the teeth to function together with the alignment of the Temporo-Mandibular Joint (TMJ). Recognized world-wide as the “non-surgical face lift”, bioesthetic dentistry affects the eyes, facial muscle posture and overall facial form. The final result is a naturally beautiful smile.

“If you have any of the common complaints listed below, Bioesthetic Dentistry may be what you need.

Migraines
Jaw popping
Worn or cracked teeth
Jaw pain
Unsightly smile
Limited opening of the mouth with restricted range of motion
Unable to chew food properly
Poor digestion
Gum disease with recession of the gums
Sensitive teeth
Tired-looking or -feeling jaw”

Dr. Boyajian, Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

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Periodontal Treatments with Ozone & Dental Lasers

Ozone and dental lasers are very useful for treating periodontal ailments in our office. Gingivitis, most commonly known as gum disease, is most often caused by improper oral hygiene. Gingivitis symptoms are usually red, swollen, or easily bleeding gums. If left untreated, gingivitis will lead to periodontitis, where the infection spreads to the root of the tooth, under the gumline, and begins to eat away everything that holds your tooth in place. This often leads to a painful process of tooth loss.

The combination of ozone and a dental laser in treating gum disease is phenomenal. The ozone continuously keeps the area sterile, while the dental laser precisely targets the infected area with minimal pain or damage to the surrounding tissues. Healing is accelerated, and health is restored.

Dr. Glenn Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com

TMJ and Gum Disease

How does TMJ relate to periodontal disease (gum disease)? TMJ actually never quite causes gum disease, but worsens an existing case.

A prime example would be one who bruxes, or grinds, his teeth because of TMJ, but doesn’t maintain good oral hygiene. If even an “insignificant” bit of gum disease develops, the teeth-grinding, and possibly other results of TMJ — such as not being able to open the mouth all the way or swollen joints and sensitive spots in the mouth — will only increase the speed at which the disease develops and turns into something serious.

You really have no excuse if you’re just plain lazy about brushing and flossing your pearly whites; but if something like severe jaw and neck pain is preventing you from brushing and flossing regularly or correctly, then you must see a TMJ specialist immediately. Gum disease is common, and therefore doesn’t sound very serious, but it is.

TMJ is difficult enough to treat on its own; that AND gum disease would be extremely painful!

Dr. Boyajian, West Los Angeles

www.dentalwellnessarts.com