Hygiene and Periodontal Gum Therapy
Good oral care is key to overall wellness.
There is emerging evidence supporting the connection between oral disease and systemic health such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis and diabetes.Without routine dental visits, plaque (a sticky white biofilm) builds up on your teeth. The bacteria in plaque can lead to gum disease (gingivitis and periodontitis), making you more vulnerable to heart disease, clogged arteries and stroke. Gum disease can also cause your blood sugar levels to rise, making the control of diabetes more difficult.
Research also has shown that oral bacteria can not only cause inflammation of pregnant women’s gums, but they can also infiltrate a mother’s bloodstream and lead to premature labour and low birthweight babies. This means that it's very important to remove that plaque and its more sinister hardened form, calculus (AKA tartar)! You can brush and floss away plaque, but calculus can only be removed with an assortment of specialized instruments by a dental professional. If left untouched, calculus provides fertile housing for aggressive bacteria to eat away at the gum and bone surrounding your teeth, leading to redness, recession (gum loss), bone loss, and eventually, infected loose teeth that need to be extracted. This is called periodontitis. Unfortunately, as with diabetes and heart disease, you often don't exhibit pain or other symptoms of periodontitis/gum disease until it has progressed to a fairly severe state.
Healthy mouths lead to long, healthy lives and at River District Dentistry, our hygienists are committed to helping you keep your smile for a lifetime. We encourage communication and education in order for our patients to have a full understanding of their oral status and work with patients to provide the regularly scheduled maintenance therapy (biofilm and calculus removal) needed to reach optimal health, and avoid the premature loss of your teeth.
