Oral Health and Disease Prevention

If you have any of the following symptoms, we recommend scheduling a check-up with your dentist and dental hygienist. Bleeding, tender, or swollen gums, plaque or tartar build-up, bad breath, or loosening teeth. There are many contributing factors that can cause these symptoms such as hormonal changes, illness, medications, bad habits, poor oral hygiene, being overdue for cleanings, and family history. Your dentist and hygienist will work with you to identify what your current needs are and what daily oral hygiene considerations you should make to help restore your mouth to health.

Gum health has long been associated with helping to maintain systemic health. Poorly controlled oral health can increase your risk of developing or worsen existing conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular health, arthritis, heart disease, and some cancers.  The presence of chronic oral inflammation and infection may increase levels of inflammatory markers in the bloodstream affecting the immune response and it adds to the general burden of disease.  More recently, studies are linking periodontal disease to hospitalizations associated with COVID-19. Knowing this information allows you to take preventative measures to restore your oral health. We have a saliva test that will identify the genetic markers IL- 6 associated with inflammation.  If you have a high presence of and we can help you lower your risk factors by treating the gum disease and help to reduce the active infection and oral inflammation lowering your risk factors for system illnesses.

When it comes to family history / genetic predisposition, oftentimes we can identify that through a simple discussion. In some cases with active periodontal disease, we also perform a saliva test to determine if an individual has the genetic markers that put them at high risk of gum disease and to identify the current bacteria present with their active periodontal infection, for a systemic approach to aid in the treatment of their gum disease.  These results imply a greater lifetime risk of chronic periodontitis and other conditions such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, and some cancers.
By knowing these predispositions, it allows for an individual to take preventative measures and make lifestyle changes that can lower their risk factors and protect their long-term health. Achieving and maintaining oral health is one way to lower risk factors. Call today to schedule your exam. If you have an interest in a saliva test, please avoid using mouth wash the day of your appointment and let us know when you schedule your appointment.