{"id":1117,"date":"2020-02-03T18:22:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T18:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2020-02-03T18:22:14","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T18:22:14","slug":"diabetes-dentistry-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/diabetes-dentistry-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"DIABETES & DENTISTRY \u2013 PART 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Last week I\ndiscussed the role and effect that diabetes has on oral health. It is not\nsomething that should be taken lightly. If you missed this column, please visit\nthe website at the end of this column or e-mail me directly and I will send you\na copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reading last\nweek\u2019s column, it may seem frightening that there is no way out of the\npartnership of horrors between diabetes and severe gum disease. There are\nsolutions. Just as poor oral health can compound a diabetic\u2019s situation, proper\noral health can come to the rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical studies\nconfirm that treatment of gum disease reduces oral inflammation, which removes\nthe factor that triggers the body\u2019s inflammatory response which, in turn, plays\na major role in compounding the effects of diabetes. Dental treatments that\nfight gum infections also help improve control of blood sugar levels in\ndiabetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are\npre-diabetic, your dentist may actually be able to help prevent diabetes. If\nyou already have diabetes, your dentist may be able to help you keep it under\ncontrol, improve your quality of life, and reduce the risk of premature death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s even\nbetter news. It\u2019s never too late to improve oral health care. Even if you\nalready have severe gum disease or other dental problems, proper treatment can\nhelp stop it in its tracks. In many cases, dentists can even reverse the damage\ndone to your teeth and gums as well as manage the metabolic elements of\ndiabetes. And, if you haven\u2019t yet developed any symptoms of diabetes-related\noral health problems, your dentist can start a prevention program that will\nhelp you stay in control of your diabetes, maintain better health and enjoy a\npreferred quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the best\nnews is that this is something that doesn\u2019t require exercise, taking a pill,\ngiving yourself a shot of insulin, or sticking to a special diet. However, some\nor all of these things may be necessary to also help control diabetes. From an\noral health perspective all you need to do is to start seeing your dentist and\ntalking to him or her about your particular situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to\npartnering with you to manage the oral health issues in regards to diabetes or\npre-diabetes, there are going to be varying degrees of participation from\ndentists, depending on their knowledge or \u201cphilosophy\u201d of care. The best team\napproach is between the doctor, the patient and the dentist. If one of these\nteam members does not participate, the battle cannot be won. Often times, it is\nthe patient who is not doing the things that he or she needs to do to properly\nmanage the problem. If the dentist does not seem too concerned about your\ndiabetes and you have the desire to have your oral health properly managed and\nare willing to do your part, find a new dentist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point is that\nthis is a serious issue and if you, the patient, wants to take control of it, a\nteam effort is needed. Find the right team. Make a commitment to improve your health\nand quality of life. You can do this.<\/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\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":"

Last week I discussed the role and effect that diabetes has on oral health. It is not something that should be taken lightly. If you missed this column, please visit the website at the end of this column or e-mail me directly and I will send you a copy. After reading last week\u2019s column, it may seem frightening that there is no way out of the partnership of horrors between diabetes and severe gum disease. […]<\/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-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117","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=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}