{"id":1071,"date":"2019-11-18T13:27:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T13:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=1071"},"modified":"2019-11-18T13:27:14","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T13:27:14","slug":"dont-skip-the-dentist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/dont-skip-the-dentist\/","title":{"rendered":"DON\u2019T SKIP THE DENTIST"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Close-up<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was an\narticle written in the The Boston Globe<\/em>\na while back entitled \u201cThe Mistakes Doctors Make\u201d\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..and right below that was\na column called \u201cAdvice for all ages: Don\u2019t skip the dentist.\u201d They were both\ninteresting perspectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dental article\nstarts with, \u201cEarlier this month, a team of researchers from London and the\nUniversity of Connecticut announced that aggressive treatment of gum disease\ncan improve the function of blood vessel walls in the body, potentially\nreducing the risk of heart attacks.\u201d  The\nconcept is nothing new. We have known for years of the mouth-body connection\nwith health. However, the key to the statement above is \u201caggressive treatment\nof gum disease\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does\naggressive treatment of gum disease mean? It means that instead of watching and\nwaiting for resolution of gum problems on its own, whatever treatment is needed\nto achieve gum health should be performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Periodontal (gum)\ndisease is a silent disease. This means that it does not hurt. Over 75% of the\npopulation has some form of periodontal disease. Whether you have early stages\nof the disease or advanced periodontal involvement, you have periodontal\ndisease. Any form of this disease is potentially affecting your overall\nsystemic health. The goal in any case is to become periodontally healthy,\nwhether it involves simply seeing a dentist more frequently or surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many dentists tend\nto watch and wait far too often. \u201cAggressive treatment of gum disease\u201d means that\nif the disease is identified, it needs to be addressed. Let\u2019s get it right out\nin the open \u2013 Once you have periodontal disease, and even after it is treated,\nit will always return unless you follow a strict regimen of home care\nand professional care\u2026\u2026.for your entire life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the smallest\namount of inflammation in your mouth is gum disease. Periodontal disease is a\nchronic inflammatory process. As the article states, \u201cChronic inflammation\nanywhere, makes the body release nasty chemicals called cytokines that have\nbeen linked to diabetes and heart disease.\u201d It goes on to say, \u201cCytokines can\nalso trigger inflammation in artery walls, raise blood pressure, worsen\ncholesterol levels, and increase blood clotting, which can lead to potentially\nfatal heart attacks.\u201d This also includes strokes. \u201cPregnancy complications,\ntoo, have been linked to gum disease, perhaps because chronic inflammation\nleads to high levels of a hormone-like substance called prostaglandin E-2,\nwhich can induce labor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what are you waiting\nfor? No one wants to hear that they need treatment for something. It is even\nharder to get someone to \u201ctreat something\u201d that does not hurt and is seemingly\nnot affecting their daily life. The fact of the matter is, periodontal disease\nis a disease. Diseases need to be treated or they will affect and possibly even\nend your life. Periodontal disease is no exception. And remember, \u201caggressive\ntreatment\u201d does not mean watch and wait to see if it goes away. It won\u2019t go\naway on its own \u2013 I promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. St. Clair maintains\na private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to health-centered\nfamily dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to see written about\nor questions you have please email them to him at jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was an article written in the The Boston Globe a while back entitled \u201cThe Mistakes Doctors Make\u201d\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..and right below that was a column called \u201cAdvice for all ages: Don\u2019t skip the dentist.\u201d They were both interesting perspectives. The dental article starts with, \u201cEarlier this month, a team of researchers from London and the University of Connecticut announced that aggressive treatment of gum disease can improve the function of blood vessel walls in the body, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1071"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1076,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1071\/revisions\/1076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}