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It's
Not Just About Your Gums...

In the past, bleeding
gums were something that people thought they had to live with. Most
medical doctors looked past your gums when they checked your throat.
Not so anymore.
To find out more about gum disease, we visited with Dr. Jerry Simon
at Dental Care of Stamford, "The newest research has proven that
bleeding gums are due to infection which can create problems throughout
your entire body."
Partner Dr. Greb Schwab says, "The dental practice of the twenty-frist
century must have gum health as a primary focus. Our team of professionals
use the newest aids to detec, monitor, and treat gum disease including
DNA probes to identify the specific germs, high-tech antibiotics, and
dental lasers."
Your Gums... and Your Smile
We all want
a nice smile. Unsightly gum recession is something that you don't need
to live with. Dr. Simon says, "A great smile also needs healthy
and good looking gums."
| Your Gums...and
Your Heart |
| Gum disease can contribute to heart attacks and strokes. Dr. Raul
Garcia, cardiologist at the Boston VA Hospital, has shown that the
same germs found in dental plaque are also found in clogged arteries
which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. In a 25 year study
that followed 1,100 healthy patients, Dr. Garcia reported that patients
with the worst gum disease had twice the number of heart attacks
and theee times the number of strokes. Keeping your mouth healthy
with regular dental cleaning visits, brushing and flossing may be
one of the easiest ways to reduce your risk. |
Your Gums... and Your
Breath
Research has proven that over 85% of mouth odor is due to bacterial
by-products in your mouth, primarily sulfur compounds, the same germs
that cause gum disease. The person with the mouth odor problem often
stops being able to smell it, and their friends may not tell them, so
they don't realize they have a problem.
Regular professional dental care and effective home care, especially
with toothpaste and mouth rinse that contains chlorine dioxide, can
break up these sulfur compounds and make your mouth healthier, as well
as keep your breath fresh and "kissing sweet".
| Your Gums...and
Your Pregnancy |
Gum disease can cause complications in pregnancy. Preterm births
and low weight babies occur in over 5% of pregnancies and lead
to complications, costing over 5.7 billion dollars a year to treat.
Dr. Vern Katz, obsterician and maternal fetal medicine specialist
at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene Oregon, and Dr. Offenbacher,
periodontist at North Carolina School of Dentistry, pulished a
study showing that pregnant women who have periodontal disease
are 7.5 times more likely to have preterm births than women with
healthy gums. Controlling gum disease may be one of the most important
identifiable risk factors.
Women who are pregnant are sometimes afraid to go to the dentist
because of x-rays, but dentists don't take x-rays for pregnant
women. In fact, women should consider regular dental care as an
important part of their prenatal care. |
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