From mildly relaxed to
"I thought I was asleep"
You can be as relaxed as you wish.
Periodontal Disease- Mankind’s most prevalent dangerous disease
We are doing far more periodontal treatment in our practice than we used to for two reasons:
- Research is showing that even a little bleeding is far more dangerous to general health than we once believed.
- With lasers, irrigators, and home care aids, treatment is much less painful and far more effective than before.
We are taking the time to present you this information, not only for you but for the health of your whole family. It may be the most valuable service that we render to you.
Symptoms of P D
Your Oral Hygiene Scores at your exam on ________________________:
Bleeding ________ % _________ Plaque _______ teeth# Periodontal Pockets ________
CRP Score_______ HbA1c Score________
Keeping your teeth healthy takes a partnership between
you and our practice team. Research continues to show
that diseases of the mouth effect far more than just teeth.
Periodontal disease strikes over 70% of the adult
population since it is a normal daily process. It is the
leading cause of tooth loss, but it also plays a role
in systemic diseases including heart attacks, strokes,
and premature births. Keeping periodontal disease
under control is vital to your long-term health. (1)
You know what happens when you get a cut on your
hand. It gets infected and painful because it is the
skins job to keep the bacteria out. In the same way
the mouth has more bacteria than any part of your body besides your intestines. When your gums are bleeding, that means that the bacteria can find their way into the body.
Additionally the redness of the gums indicates INFLAMMATION which we now understand has serious complications.
Heart Disease, CRP and periodontal disease
We now understand that both the bacteria getting into the arteries and the inflammation combine to produce heart disease and stroke, and a person with periodontal disease has twice the chance of getting coronary artery disease. Recent research shows that periodontal disease increases inflammation markers including C-Reactive Protein which is a greater predictor of heart disease and stroke than High Cholesterol. (1), (2)
Diabetes and Periodontal Disease
Diabetes has long been known to be a causal factor in periodontal disease. Now we know that periodontal disease increases the hemoglobin factor HbA1C which increases the difficulty of controlling blood sugar and increases the chance of heart attack. (3)
Periodontal Disease and Pregnancy
The periodontal bacteria actually cause pregnant women to generate more of a hormone that induces labor. Pregnant women with Periodontal Disease have 7 times the chance of a pre term low birth weight baby. Additionally it can cause fertility problems. Pre term birth can be very expensive and cause lifetime complications. Therefore if you are pregnant you should have a periodontal exam before your second trimester.
Causes of Periodontal Disease
It is important to realize that since periodontal disease is caused by natural forces that are at work in everyone. Over 75% of people get periodontal disease and you are lucky if you don’t get it. People who don’t get it are diligent in their brushing and flossing, practice good nutrition and health habits and are fortunate genetically. There are a number of factors which cause the gum tissue to become inflamed and pull away from the tooth. These include:
- Plaque & Calculus - Plaque is the gooey material
that forms every day if you don’t do your brushing..
- If you don’t floss it can form hard deposits called
calculus under the gums.
- Oral Bacteria- The bacteria thrive in these hideouts
because the ones that cause perio don’t need air.
They secret toxins and other chemicals that cause
inflammation and damage the gums.
- Volatile Sulfur Compounds Are formed every day by your skin formation, food debris and the bacteria. Your skin contains sulfur which is the main cause of bad breath. These chemicals are known and rotten egg smell, sewer gas smell and road kill smell. If you have bad breath it means that the sulfur compounds are attacking your gums.
Periodontitis
As you can see periodontal disease actually begins to attack the bone as well as the gums and forms “Pockets” depending on what stage your disease is at (discuss their pocket depth readings). The problem with pockets is that it allows a place for the bacteria to hide and you can no longer keep yourself well with just brushing and flossing. This is why perio patients used to have to return every 3 months for professional cleaning.
Periodontal Therapy Goals
We have to cure all of the things that caused the problem. We need to repair the damage, but just as important we need to give you some tools to keep you healthy.
Lab Tests We are going to send you out for lab tests to determine your risk factors. We will be doing these again after treatment to see if we have attacked the main problem with your perio or if you have other problems that your doctor needs to define and solve.
Control the Bacteria
Our initial treatment will be focused on a shock treatment for the bacteria. The good news for you is that we now have a laser that kills all the bacteria no matter what their strain, and allows us to repair the damage and pockets without surgery. It is much nicer to be treated than it used to be. We use the laser along with our normal treatment to encourage the gums to re-attach to the teeth.
Scaling & Root Planing
This picture shows the procedure we call scaling and root
planning. Here we remove the plaque and calculus build up
which provides a smooth surface on the tooth for re-attachment.
CLOSYS II and VSC’s
We are going to introduce you to a new toothpaste and mouth
rinse called ClosysII which is an integral part of your treatment.
You will use it during treatment and for as long as you want to
keep periodontal disease from recurring. It is perfectly healthy, non prescription and contains no alcohol . Our biggest patient complaint is that it doesn’t taste like medicine. The whole family can benefit from it. It is included in your treatment fee and you can buy it here in volume cheaper than the drug store.
The main thing you will notice is that your breath smells fresh for 8 hours after you use it (if you don’t smoke or eat onions). Hand them a bottle with the little brochure that comes with it. You need to use your CloSysII to kill the bad bacteria, nourish the good bacteria and chemically nuetralize the VSC’s. This is the natural process which causes so many people to develop gum disease.
Hydrofloss
We want you to have the same tools at home that we use
in the office to completely clean your teeth. You fill the
tank with water and put a couple of capfuls of
CloSYSII in it. This is part of your treatment and you can
use it forever and share it with the family.
The handle has magnets in it which ionizes the water
and prevents the calculus from building up chemically.
The spray gets the CloSys down under the gums where
it can do it’s job. It is a key to keeping you healthy forever.
Nutritional
During treatment you will take special supplements which help you heal and make the gums resistant to periodontal disease. You will not see these ingredients in your multi-vitamin.. After treatment we still recommend special supplements to keep your CRP low and resist periodontal disease. It is part of getting well and staying well. These are specially made supplements called nutraceuticals because they are pharmacy grade quality. They have actually been shown in scientific studies to help cure periodontal disease.
One Year Budget Plan
We have found that a piecemeal approach does not work and so we have design a complete one year treatment plan with all of the appointments, treatments, and medications needed for success. Everything is included. We also find that our patients appreciate the opportunity to pay monthly. Please feel free to discuss financing with our treatment coordinator.
References:
We encourage you to review relevant research on the Internet and have included some key references from this paper below along with their internet URL’s
http://www.electronicipc.com/JournalEZ/detail.cfm?code=02250010680801
US Department of Health and Human Services. Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General-- Executive Summary. Rockville, MD: US Department of Health and (1) Human Services, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health, 2000. http://www2.nidcr.nih.gov/sgr/execsumm.htm#execSumm
(2) Loos BG, Craandijk, et al Elevation of systemic markers related to cardiovascular disease in peripheral blood of periodontitis patients. J Periodontology, 2000 Oct;71(10):1528-34
(3) Ridker P., Rifai, N., et al Comparison of C-Reactive Protein and low density lipoprotein levels in the prediction of first cardiovascular events. N. England J. of Medicine, 2002 Nov 14;347(20):1557-65 http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/103/13/1813#F4
(4) Grossi, Genco Et. Al.: Treatment of Periodontal Disease in Diabetics Reduces Glycated Hemoglobin, Journal of Periodontology August 1997
(5) Marjorie K. Jeffcoat, John C. Hauth, Nico C. Geurs, Michael S. Reddy, Suzanne P. Cliver, Pamela M. Hodgkins, and Robert L. Goldenberg J Periodontol 2003;74:1214-1218. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-03/uonc-sbs030502.php