What is Periodontal Disease?

What do you mean my gums have a disease?
Periodontal disease is the last thing you want to hear about when you visit a dentist, but believe it or not he hears those words almost every day. Luckily, unlike the Ebola virus, gum disease is entirely preventable, and in the long run treatable.

What Causes Periodontal Disease?
Gum disease isn't a disease as you immediately think of it. You aren't walking around, flossing your teeth at the mall, when someone coughs periodontal disease into your face. It's more of a case of lack of maintenance, like when you go 10,000 miles without changing the oil in your car on a regular basis. You see, our mouths are filled with millions of microscopic bacteria swimming around. These bacteria are mostly beneficial, but when combined with mucus and other gunk in our mouths they harden to form plaque. We brush and floss our teeth to remove that plaque, and start the process all over again. Of course, sometimes we miss a spot, and some people fail to brush at all. When the plaque hardens, it causes gingivitis, which is a fancy word for "my gums are red, swollen and bleed a lot." Gingivitis, you might say, isn't a big deal. With regular flossing and brushing as well as attention from a dentist, it will be a thing of the past. If left alone, on the other hand, it will become extremely hard and thick. The gums, knowing that gingivitis is gross, will begin to pull away from the teeth. Retreating, if you will.

Who needs those cowards anyway, right? Well, unfortunately your gums are protecting the air pockets around the roots of your teeth. Those formerly helpful bacteria now invade the air pockets, causing infection and pain. Eventually, the process will rot away at the root of the tooth, causing them to fall out. If your mouth were a car, I'd say it's time to take it in to the dealership.

Metal Dental Implants

The metal that is commonly used in dental implants is Titanium.  Chemical-toxic reaction can occur as tissure is damaged due to metal ions and metal hydroxides.  These reactions will progress to general reactions since the white blood cells will increase and the phagocytosis border value will exceeded on a local basis.  This is the main reason some people's body's reject their implanted metal and ultimately causes it to fail.

To the various and diverse clinical symptoms, a patient may experience the following side effects from their metal implant:

• Increased sensitivity to spices and food
• Metallic Taste
• Itching tongue
• Burning Mouth

Localized symptoms include blue-gray pigmented areas in the tissue, pale erythema, hypertrophy of the gingiva, ulcerations, depapillation of the tongue and leukoplakias of the mucosa.

Region symptoms include eczema of the face.  This is due to the skin making an effort to detox the metal.

General symptoms may include headaches and increased nervous irritability.

In some instances (very rare) where there is not enough jawbone to fit dentures, implants may be an option.  Teeth are part of your first step to digesting your food so finding a suitable option in dental implants is very important.  Be sure to have your implants cleaned at a local dental office often.  You will damage an implant by using the conventional metal tools that the hygienist use.  Special plastic tools are used for cleaning implants.

Consult with a local dentist or oral surgeon as to what dental implant options are out there and suitable for your mouth. 

Content found in the book "Let the Tooth be Known" written by Dawn Ewing RHD.

5 Tips for Senior Dental Care

Oral health is a lifelong process. While we all know that brushing daily is important, for seniors, there are specific concerns and issues that arise with increased age. Here are five tips to help you maintain a healthy smile throughout your golden years.

1.    Chew Smart
Dry mouth is a common side effect of many medications and cancer treatments. Unfortunately, this means that dry mouth often affects seniors, who tend to be on more medication as they age.
Dry mouth is caused by a reduction in saliva flow; to combat this occurrence, most people will chew gum or candies. However, sugar can actually harm your oral health by feeding bacteria in your mouth. Bacteria growth can lead to much more serious dental problems including gum disease, so dentists recommend patients chew sugarless gum and candy.
2.    Go Electric
Arthritis and poor eyesight can make your daily oral health routine a hassle and a challenge. One simple way to make your life easier is to invest in an electric toothbrush. Where gripping and brushing movements can exacerbate your arthritic pain, having an automated toothbrush can make a big difference in improving your routine while still effectively brushing your teeth.
3.    Eat Right
Your diet affects more than just your waistline. To promote a healthy mouth and teeth, continue to focus on eating right. Avoid foods and drinks that are high in sugar, because these contribute to oral disease and tooth decay. Instead, focus on eating foods like sugar-free yogurt, fruits and vegetables like apples and celery, and of course, your daily servings of calcium in milk and cheese. These all serve to combat natural enemies to your oral health, like bacteria and inflammation, and promote strong and healthy teeth.

Top Dental Tips for Children

Sometimes it becomes quite difficult for the parents to teach correct dental care to their children. However, it is very important to make them realize the importance of dental care so as to avoid various dental problems which may crop up in later years of a child's life. Apart from providing good dental care, it is also important for parents to impart good dental habits in initial stages of a child's life. Following are some great dental tips for your kids.

- Impart good dental care habits
It is important to impart proper dental care habits to the kids as soon as possible. If you are successful in impart good dental care habits, your child wont face any dental problems in later stages of life. Also, you should take your child to a dentist once every six months.

- Opt for fluoride toothpaste
Fluoride toothpaste must be used for the kid as it helps to control as well as prevent decay in tooth. For children who are under the age of three years, fluoride toothpaste should ideally contain 1350 to 1500 ppm of fluoride. However, you must tell them not to lick or consume the toothpaste.