Dental Health and General Surgery

Occasionally we get calls to 1-800-DENTIST from people who are looking for a dentist because they need to get some other type of surgery. Very often if you need a hip replacement, or heart surgery, or many other types of surgery, even cosmetic, the surgeon will not begin surgery if you have some sort of dental infection.

The reason for this is simple: the surgeon knows that your body is already fighting an infection, meaning your immune system is already somewhat compromised, and surgery always poses a further risk of infection and always makes a greater demand on your immune system. The doctor simply wants you to be as healthy as possible and reduce the risk of complications.

This is just one more example of the connection between your overall health and your dental health.  It's unfortunate that health care creates a disconnect between your mouth and your body, and doesn't cover your teeth, but that's the reality. 

Too many people discover too late that the source of many of their health problems is what's going on with their teeth--they have gum disease, or an abscess, and this is affecting their health in ways they don't recognize.  What more proof would you need than a surgeon unwilling to operate on you?

Don't let it get this far, or anywhere near this.  Find a dentist you love, see him or her regularly, and stay truly healthy.

Tobacco May Steal Your Teeth

By now we should all be aware of the risks associated with smoking and tobacco: lung disease, heart disease, low birth weight, etc.  One thing you might not know about is that tobacco can cause oral health issues like gum disease (periodontitis) as well. This can ultimately lead to tooth loss. This can be true whether you smoke, use smokeless tobacco or even have exposure to secondhand smoke.

Besides having facial wrinkles and horrible breath, it has been shown that smokers lose more teeth than non-smokers. In addition to the cosmetic effects , tooth loss can lead to a host of other problems. 

The next time you think about putting tobacco to your lips, imagine yourself with no teeth to greet it. Give your teeth a fighting chance. See your dentist regularly.

"Long in the Tooth"

If you've ever heard that expression and wondered what the heck it meant, it refers to the fact that as we get older, our gums recede. This makes more of the tooth show, and therefore look longer. It means someone is old, in other words.

Getting long in the tooth isn't just an appearance issue. It means the lower part of the tooth that should be below the gumline is exposed. This is bad for a couple of reasons: first, the part of the tooth below the gums is not as dense, with much thinner enamel than the upper part of the tooth, so it decays a lot more easily; and second, it is more sensitive, to cold, heat, or even touch.

Seeing a dentist can keep you from getting long in the tooth for a long time. Have I mentioned this fact before?

Bleeding Gums--Not Normal!!

Proctor & Gamble recently did a survey on consumer thinking about their oral health and one of the statistics was that 33% of the people in the United States believe that a little gum bleeding as a result of brushing their teeth is normal.

It's not! It may be typical, as 50% of the population over 35 has some level of gum disease, but it's not normal. If your hands bled a little bit after you washed them, would you think that was normal? Your gums should never bleed, not when you're brushing, not when you're flossing, or not when you're eating. Bleeding gums means that you have allowed some level of decay to occur in your mouth.

If there is infection around or below the gum line, gradually your gum is going to recede from the tooth, exposing the softer area below the tooth enamel. The result most often is you will end up needing a root canal, or possibly have to have the tooth extracted.

If you have a dentist, you should tell him or her that your teeth bleed when you brush or floss. Usually this means there will be much more bleeding when you get your teeth cleaned, so they can usually see the problem anyway. The hygienist is also going to check how much your gums are receding, and if there are any pockets of infection below the gum line. A dentist can fix this. But you should also be finding out the proper way to brush your teeth--you may be brushing way too hard or with the wrong type of brush if there is bleeding.

If you don't have a dentist and your gums bleed at any time for any reason, this is a clear indicator you need to see one quick before the problem gets any worse. Find a dentist that you like and then you will go as often as you should. Unless you think it's normal not to have all your teeth, then don't think it's normal to have gums occasionally bleed.

Gum Disease and Heart Disease

An employee told me today about his grandmother, who never took care of her teeth and had lost most of them, and because of the disease in her mouth and gums, she developed a heart aneurysm and died. This is one of the reasons he feels so committed to working here, convincing people to go to a dentist and helping them to find one. This is very personal for him.

What people are gradually learning is that gum disease can put bacteria into your bloodstream, and often this bacteria is the same bacteria that causes the buildup of arterial plaque. (Odd that it forms plaque in your mouth and your arteries--or maybe it isn't so odd.) It has now been shown to possibly cause a stroke.

It doesn't seem that neglecting your teeth could be fatal, but it is possible. The gums lead directly to the bloodstream--it's why heart patients put nitroglycerin under their tongue when they feel a heart attack coming on. The body absorbs it very quickly. The same is true when you don't control the bacteria in your mouth.

Crazy stuff, but true. Being afraid of the dentist is potentially life-threatening.

The Myth About Cavities

I hear adults all the time saying, "I haven't had a cavity in years. I don't need to see a dentist." Sorry. The fact is that after your 20's your greatest risk isn't cavities, it's gum disease. Brushing and flossing (even if you did it daily) aren't nearly enough to prevent gum disease as you get older.

Here's what's happening. There are millions of bacteria in your mouth, and some of them get organized into little colonies, and they love to eat sugar and secrete acid. This acid might give you cavities, but it most likely will travel between your teeth and gums, and gradually separate the gum from the tooth, until you are, as they used to say, "long in the tooth."

Receding gums are bad, and very hard to fix. They expose the tooth below the enamel, which is the hardest bone in the body, and allow decay to reach the softer tooth area below.

But that's not all. Gum disease means that the bacteria have been allowed to travel deep below the gum line, and create pockets of infection. This means you could eventually lose the tooth. Symptoms are bad breath, bleeding when you floss, redness instead of a healthy pink color to your gums, and sensitivity at the gum line.

The only solution is to see a dentist and get cleaned regularly, at the very least every six months. Some people should go even more. (The cleanings are also a lot easier if you go more often.) This removes the plaque, which are the little bacteria villages secreting acid. And if you have gum disease, a dentist can start a program to treat it and allow you to keep your teeth.

50% of the population over 35 has some level of gum disease. My advice is find a dentist you love, and that way you'll go often. Call 1-800-DENTIST or visit www.1800dentist.com, and they'll help you find one. If you suspect gum disease, don't wait until it's too late and you need a root canal or lose the tooth. It won't heal itself, not with some mouthwash or by brushing harder. Get yourself to a dentist. Preachy, I know, but teeth are important.