J. Peter St. Clair, DMD, PC Blog

You’ve heard it before – three in four adults over 35 have some form of gum disease. And a preponderance of new clinical research reveals that gum disease poses a far greater threat to health than just losing a tooth. Periodontal disease may actually increase your risk for a variety of health concerns including heart attacks, low birth weight babies, diabetes and stroke.

Dr. Isadore Rosenfield, Health Editor of PARADE magazine – “People with chronically infected gums have twice as much heart disease as the rest of us. We have an imperative to treat gum disease – to save not only teeth but also patients.”

I think it is safe to say that our healthcare system has some flaws. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a healthcare system that realized that everything in the body is connected? Unfortunately, there are no reasonable solutions for this in the near future. Therefore, it is important for you to take your health into your own hands and plan appropriately.

Patients will sometimes balk at treatment not covered by their dental insurance. Dentists will often hear, “Just do what my insurance covers. I don’t want anything extra.” In fact, a recent ADA poll showed that a lack of dental insurance was the #1 reason most patients gave for not visiting a dentist.… (Read More)

Disease is defined as, “a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.” Symptoms are those which are felt and signs are those which are seen. Disease may show signs but no symptoms. Two areas dentists see signs of, often without symptoms, are bruxism (grinding)/clenching and GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease, causing chemical erosion of the teeth.

Some people present with symptoms relating to these two issues, but more often than not, people do not have symptoms. Dental… (Read More)

There are many people who suffer with pain involving some area of the head. Toothaches can cause pain, but these are mostly avoidable with proper diet, home care and regular visits to your dentist. Teeth can also play an indirect role in facial/head pain.

Orofacial pain includes a number of clinical problems involving the chewing (masticatory) muscles and/or temporomandibular joints (TMJs). Problems can include TMJ discomfort involving muscle spasms in the head, neck, shoulders and/or jaw, migraines or other types of tension headaches, pain with the teeth, face or jaw; and can even play a role in anxiety and/or depression.

You swallow approximately 2,000… (Read More)

Want to enjoy healthier gums? Start by watching what you eat. Onions, leafy greens, and reduced-fat dairy products are great choices. These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals and low in sugars and simple starches. All of them can help you to enjoy a better report from your dentist.

The word is out – taking care of your oral health is better for your whole body, including your mind. However, statistics still indicate only about half of the population goes on a regular basis. For those that do go, most patients usually stay with a dentist unless there is some kind of personality conflict or philosophical discrepancy in the perceived need for treatment. How do you know if another opinion is right for you?

When it comes to larger purchases, such as a car, a house or even home improvements, it’s not uncommon to get a second or third opinion/quote. We use the information we gather to make a more informed decision… (Read More)

I recently had the opportunity to do some dental hygiene appointments for a hygienist who was out for a family emergency. While at first I was not particularly excited about doing this because I have my own busy schedule, I have to say, it was both gratifying and eye-opening.

Typically, when I check a patient after a hygiene exam, I am examining clean teeth and will briefly discuss any concerns the patient or the hygienist has. But on this day, I got to spend much more time with patients who I normally only see for five minutes after they see the hygienist.

My first patient was a 20-year-old, very pleasant and bright… (Read More)

Have you broken any of your New Year’s resolutions yet? Essentially, it is just another “to-do” list. As with many to-do lists, some of the items on it keep getting pushed down in the ranking of priorities because of the constraints of time. So, I have a suggestion to keep in mind when making pledges to yourself about what you are going to do this year; make purifying your time your first resolution.

Many driven people pride themselves on how many tasks and commitments they are able to take on. This is difficult to sustain. Eventually, this philosophy of always doing more becomes counterproductive, as you inevitably have to approach your growing list… (Read More)

Thanks again to the The Town Common for another great year. At the end of each of the past 13 years, I have used this space to publish these 21 Suggestions for Success authored by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. It is the perfect time to reflect on the year past and prepare for any changes we need to make for the year to come.

How was 2018 for you?  While reflecting on the past year is important, thinking forward to the year to come is even more important. The past is in the past.

Cut this out and put it on the refrigerator. Read this list often and take these suggestions to… (Read More)

I recently attended a dental continuing education course entitled “Hit Man or Healer?” The course was given by a well-known leader in the dental profession. The basic premise of the course was the notion that we have a lot more science, studies, and data available today to be able to make better decisions about the treatment that we dentists recommend to patients. The concept is called evidence-based dentistry.

The idea is that if a very structured examination and diagnosis is done, treatment recommendations can be made based on science. The problem is, many times the diagnosis leads to suggestions that without the proper dialogue can make the dentist look like a “hit man”… (Read More)