periodontal disease

Prevention: A Renewed Commitment

With new materials and procedures, dentistry has evolved from "if it hurts, yank it," to true preventive medicine. We can thank fluorides for the terrific rate of cavity-free children, and new anesthetics have made dentistry more comfortable than ever. Sealants, safer X-rays, and space-age plastics have all become commonplace in [...]

Kids Can Get Gum Disease Too

It would be comforting to think that gum disease only affected adults, but adolescents and even pre-adolescents are at risk as well. In fact, the condition is so common among teenagers that we call it Localized Juvenile Periodontitis (LJP). What causes gum disease and Localized Juvenile Periodontitis? We usually think [...]

Do You Have Bad Breath?

When Bad Breath is Something to Worry About Morning breath...dragon mouth...onion breath...there are about as many descriptions of halitosis as there are reasons for it occurring. Chronic bad breath is usually not just too much garlic for lunch. Here's a list of common bad breath causes, and what you might [...]

A Few Tips on Nutrition

Get Your Vitamins! Vitamin C is an extremely important in dentistry (and nutrition in general) because of how it helps control periodontal disease and other problems in the mouth. For one thing, Vitamin C—ascorbic acid—seems to help calcium do its job of halting the loss of bone. Animal studies at [...]

An Ounce of Prevention…

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You've heard that a million times—because it's so true! Our office really wants you to avoid painful, costly dental procedures. The way you can do this is through regularly scheduled dental exams. The idea is to discover a problem when [...]

Periodontal Disease Q&A

Answers to your most frequently asked questions about gum disease. Q: Why is gum disease so terrible if it doesn't hurt? Periodontal disease is a progressive one—meaning if it doesn't stabilize or show signs of healing, it's bound to get worse. Even when it doesn't hurt, untreated gum disease will [...]

Hormones and Periodontal Disease

Women of all ages are prone to changing levels of progesterone in the body. And progesterone—especially when you are pregnant or taking oral contraceptives—causes some bacteria to grow in awesome numbers. Unfortunately, the bacteria associated with gum disease are among them. Are you taking progesterone medication? Tell us if these [...]