{"id":1099,"date":"2020-01-13T13:05:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T13:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=1099"},"modified":"2020-01-13T13:05:33","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T13:05:33","slug":"it-wont-go-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/it-wont-go-away\/","title":{"rendered":"IT WON\u2019T GO AWAY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A while back, The Boston Globe<\/em> ran an article entitled\n\u201cAdvice for all ages: Don\u2019t skip the dentist.\u201d It started with, \u201cA team of\nresearchers from London and the University of Connecticut announced that\naggressive treatment of gum disease can improve the function of blood vessel\nwalls in the body, potentially reducing the risk of heart attacks.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept is\nnothing new. We have known for years of the mouth-body connection with health.\nHowever, the key to the statement above is \u201caggressive treatment of gum\ndisease\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does\naggressive treatment of gum disease mean? Basically, it means that instead of\nwatching and waiting for resolution of gum problems on their own, whatever\ntreatment is needed to 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any form of this\ndisease is potentially affecting your overall systemic health. The goal in any\ncase is to become periodontally healthy, whether it involves simply seeing a\ndentist more frequently or surgery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy for\npatients, and even dentists, to watch and wait as opposed to taking action.\n\u201cAggressive treatment of gum disease\u201d means that if the disease is identified,\nit needs to be addressed. Let\u2019s get it right out in the open \u2013 Once you have\nperiodontal disease, and even after it is treated, it will always return\nunless you follow a strict regimen of home care and professional care\u2026\u2026.for\nyour 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

No one wants to\nhear that they need treatment for something. It is even harder to get someone\nto \u201ctreat something\u201d that does not hurt and is seemingly not affecting their\ndaily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The fact of the matter is, periodontal disease\nis a disease. Diseases need to be treated or they will affect and possibly even\nshorten your life. Periodontal disease is no exception. And remember,\n\u201caggressive treatment\u201d does not mean watch and wait to see if it goes away. It\nwon\u2019t go away on its own \u2013 I promise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. St. Clair\nmaintains a private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to health-centered\nfamily dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to see written\nabout or 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":"

A while back, The Boston Globe ran an article entitled \u201cAdvice for all ages: Don\u2019t skip the dentist.\u201d It started with, \u201cA 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, potentially reducing the risk of heart attacks.\u201d  The concept is nothing new. We have known for years of the mouth-body connection with health. However, the […]<\/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-1099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099","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=1099"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1111,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1099\/revisions\/1111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}