Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS January 30, 2016 [printfriendly]
I’ve been consulting with patients as far away as Australia, Switzerland, and England. They all seem to have similar questions. They’ve told me that their local dentists either can’t answer their questions or don’t want to answer them.
Are some of their questions your own? Here are the five questions most frequently asked:
- Why do I have gum disease since I brush and floss everyday?
- Why hasn’t my dentist been able to give me the answers?
- Can my advanced gum disease be treated without surgically cutting my gums?
- Are my kids destined to suffer as I have?
- Can I spread gum disease to my partner like the germs of a cold?
Here are my thoughts:
- Why do I have gum disease since I brush and floss everyday?
Although brushing and flossing are important, there are many other not-so-obvious causes of gum disease:
- Certain foods we eat affect the bacteria in our gut, which in turn affect the bacteria in our mouth. Processed foods like grains and sugars create an increase in unhealthy bacteria in our gut. When bad bacteria get out of control in our gut, they increase the bad bacteria in our mouth. Bad bacteria that become dominant in our mouth cause bad bacteria to overgrow in the dental plaque around the teeth. When these bacteria predominate, they ferment the refined grains and sugars that we eat to form acids and inflammation. A vicious cycle begins between the foods we eat and the bacteria in our body, which results in advancing tooth decay and gum disease.
- Many of us don’t eat the foods that are necessary for health. We need necessary nutrients to fuel individual cells, and we need fiber to feed our healthy gut bacteria. When we don’t get the nutrients we need, our immune system suffers. If our immune system suffers, the health of our mouth suffers.
- Our immune system also is affected by emotional stress. Cases have been reported where individuals under significant emotional stress developed severe inflammation and gum sores without the abundance of unhealthy bacteria.
- Environmental chemicals that get into our body can disrupt our cell’s ability to function properly. These chemicals can be in the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink. If cells don’t function properly, chronic inflammation could occur. Chronic inflammation can cause havoc throughout our system including our mouth.
- Why hasn’t my dentist been able to give me the answers?
In dental school, dentists-to-be learn about the obvious causes of dental disease. They also learn traditional treatments to repair damaged teeth and gums. Unfortunately, they learn very little of the nutritional, environmental, and psychological causes of oral disease. Without this additional knowledge, they may not be able to answer some of your pressing questions.
- Can my advanced gum disease be treated without surgically cutting my gums?
Today, there are regenerative procedures that can assist the body to heal from advanced gum disease without using scalpels and without using stitches. In my office, I use the PerioLase® laser along with the LANAP® Protocol (Laser Assisted New Attachment Procedure). They do not require scalpels or stitches, and they have been shown to kill bacteria causing periodontitis and to stimulate new bone to grow around teeth. HERE. HERE. You can watch this animated video showing the LANAP procedure in action.
- Are my kids destined to suffer as I have?
Your kids need to be taught good oral hygiene. Also, nutritional and environmental factors need to be controlled to help your children be healthy. You are their example. You, as an adult, set the rules. If you eat healthy foods and promote a healthy lifestyle, then your kids will be positively influenced. You must become educated in what is healthy and what is not. Your children do not have to suffer dental decay or gum disease. Our primal ancestors over the course of 2.5 million years hardly every experienced dental decay or gum disease. Primal societies today rarely have dental disease or chronic disease. Huge factors for health include never eating processed foods and living an active lifestyle without environmental toxic chemicals.
- Can I spread gum disease to my partner like the germs of a cold?
The bacteria causing gum disease are not airborne like the viruses that cause colds. However, they may be transmitted between partners through intimate kissing. Based on a person’s immune system, these unhealthy bacteria from one partner may or may not affect the other partner.
These are a few of the most frequently asked questions I get. If you can think of others that you need answered, drop me an email. I will try to respond in a timely fashion.