Gum Disease + Clogged Arteries

[pautai]

Mouth, artery woes related

February 8, 2005

ASSOCIATED PRESS

The first-ever study to compare oral bacteria and blood vessel thickness provides the strongest evidence yet that gum disease and clogged arteries are closely connected.

"People in the study with the highest levels of specific oral bugs also had the highest levels of atherosclerosis," lead researcher Dr. Moise Desvarieux, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York says about hardening of the arteries.

The findings are published in today's issue of Circulation.

Dental and cardiovascular researchers suspected that chronic periodontal infection can trigger or exacerbate atherosclerosis.

"Chronic infection puts a stress on our body's response system, and the way the body responds to that infection is by sending different elements through the bloodstream," says Dr. Ronald Inge, associate executive director of the American Dental Association.

He said steady, high levels of these inflammatory compounds spur a gradual thickening of artery walls throughout the body.

[taxexile]

articles on this subject have been appearing in dental journals for some time now and the evidence proving a connection between chronic inflammatory conditions and arterial disease is there to see.

the total surface area of the periodontal tissues that surround the roots of the teeth is reckoned to be about the same as the area of skin on your forearm , i.e. a large area.

controlling periodontal inflammation is a matter of having regular scaling and polishing (say twice a year) and meticulous attention to detail when tooth brushing.

full mouth dental flossing should be done twice a day.

the first signs of periodontal inflammation are reddening of the gum margins around the teeth with thickening and slight swelling of the points of gum between the teeth. if the gums bleed on flossing then there is inflammation present.

if two or three days of regular flossing and twice or three times a day brushing does not stop the bleeding then the inflammation may have progressed a few millimeters down between the gum and the tooth root , eventually leading to the formation of pockets where the gum becomes detached from the tooth root. these pockets become hard to clean properly and the pocketing slowly but surely gets deeper and deeper.

a visit to a dentist and a thorough scaling will in most cases completely reverse the condition. healthy gums should be pink , firm and not bleed on brushing or flossing.

gum (periodontal ) inflammation that has become long standing will lead to deep pockets with destruction of the fibres that hold the tooth securely in place in the mandible and maxilla with resultant loosening and eventual loss of the tooth or teeth.

unless the teeth are literally waving in the breeze then treatment will "tighten up'' the teeth to a certain extent.

smoking is a cause of chronic gum irritation and inflammation.

good oral hygiene is the best and only way to prevent it starting and to prevent re-ocurrence once it has been cleared up.

if you are not spending at least three minutes on brushing and a couple of minutes on flossing then you are probably not doing it properly.

[pautai]

you can of course brush to much wearing away the gums .

where is there a good hygenist in BKK , i mean an expert ,not just a quick polish man.

[taxexile]

you can of course brush to much wearing away the gums .

not really.

the gums will naturally recede with age , making the teeth look longer , and excessive toothbrushing or using too much pressure may cause the appearance of grooves just above the gumline as the softer exposed dentine is worn away , this can be a cause of sensitivity to cold, sweet , citric juices etc.

its easily fixed and far preferable to the long term consequences of under brushing ,

e.g.

halitosis (dogs breath).

loose teeth.

painful chewing.

chronic periodontal infection.

increased likelyhood of caries (decay) in areas of the tooth that are difficult to access and therefore difficult to treat succesfully

far better to have healthy pink gums showing a slight degree of recession than swollen, bright red gums exhibiting pathology.

toothbrushes should be replaced as soon as the bristles start to bend.

[taxexile]

where is there a good hygenist in BKK , i mean an expert

most dentists will be able to scale and polish your teeth for you , should take about half an hour.

if you have gum bleeding and a scale and polish and after two or three days you still have bleeding when you brush or floss then you may have a gum problem , possibly only around one or two teeth.

if you suspect you may have a gum problem then try one of the dental departments at bumrungrad,bnh,samitivej hospitals in bangkok.

(there is a very good dental hospital near to samitivej hospital , ive forgotten which soi.)