Word Of Mouth - Summer 2007
- Page 1 - Think Color & Harmony
- Page 2 - Uncommonly Adaptable
- Page 3 - Make the Connection
- Page 4 - Mind Your Tongue
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Make The Connection
Participate In Your Oral & General Health!
No one knows everything about gum disease and the way in which it affects your general health. Debate and research about the precise dynamics of this interrelationship will likely continue for a long time to come. It's not clear whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship or even whether the true culprit is bacteria or inflammation or a mechanism we don't yet understand. Fortunately, you don't have to know everything to know a good thing when you hear it.
For instance, it's good to know that when you take care of your oral health, you are making a positive contribution to your overall health and well-being. How can this be? Researchers have established links between gum disease and other ailments, and because periodontal disease can be prevented, treated, and in some cases, even reversed, you can participate actively in managing your oral health and therefore your general health.
Prevention (a good home care routine and regular dental visits) is your best strategy has no symptoms in the earliest stages. It occurs when plaque (bacterial film) builds up. By the time you experience symptoms like discomfort, bleeding, and bad breath, you will already have damaged your gums and possibly even supporting ligaments and bone. Without intervention, you could experience bone and tooth loss.
Here are some links that have been demonstrated between oral health and overall health.
Pulmonary Infection: Harmful bacteria from gum infections has been linked with pneumonia, bronchitis, emphysema, & chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Osteoporosis: Women with osteoporosis may be at higher risk for gum disease & people with gum disease may be at a higher risk of underlying osteoporosis.
Diabetes: People with diabetes are more susceptible to gum disease which hin turn can make it more difficult to control blood sugar.
Heart Disease & Stroke: People with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer coronary artery disease as those without gum disease.
Oral Cancer: An association has been found between serious periodontal disease & pre-cancerous lesions & oral tumors.
Pregnancy: Periodontal disease during pregnancy has been linked with toxemia, pre-term delivery, & babies with lower birth weights.
Diverse & Abundant!
Put the "C" in cuisine!
Do you enjoy the idea of belonging to an elite group? Well, along with a fruit-eating bat, a species of trout, apes, and guinea pigs, and the red-vented bulbul bird, humans are among the few species that cannot synthesize their own vitamin C! Your gums need vitamin C to stay pink and healthy and to give you nice-smelling breath and a youthful appearance.
How do you get enough vitamin C? Well, you could eat two grapefruits a day like the participants in one study. The increased vitamin C helped both smokers and non-smokers to improve their periodontal health. Thankfully, though, the vitamin is abundantly available in foods as diverse as oranges, lemons, spinach, potatoes, kohlrabi, guava, and papaya.
Now, get ready to smile - because humans are special in another way! Only we humans cook. So you can get vitamin C whether you're dining vegetarian or nouvelle cuisine, Chinese, Kosher, Italian, American, Mexican, or Indian curry takeout!
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Kenneth Hovden DDS - Providing services in cosmetic dentistry and smile design to the areas of Daly City and San Francisco.
San Francisco smile design
Physicians Medical Center 901 Campus Drive No. 202 Daly City, California 94015 | Ph: 650.755.6000 | Fx: 650.755.0208
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