If you’ve got gum disease - and about half of all adult Americans (and 70% of seniors) do - one of the very best things you can do to get it under control is to improve your diet. That means swapping out the sugars and other refined carbs for a more nutrient-dense,...
Chlorhexidine is a powerful antimicrobial rinse that a periodontist or oral surgeon might prescribe to control infection. It’s effective stuff, to be sure. But it has its drawbacks. For one it’s notorious for staining teeth and can also affect your sense of taste,...
Turmeric has long been used in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s a great antioxidant, after all, helpful for reducing inflammation. Yet that’s just one of the many ways it’s been used to support healing. But the spice has antimicrobial properties, as...
Healthy teeth require healthy gums and bone to support them. Periodontal (gum) disease puts all three at risk. But that’s hardly the only reason to stay diligent about healthy eating, good home hygiene, regular dental appointments, and the rest. Gum disease also...
Just as gum disease is a progressive disease, so is treatment for it. Where scaling and root planing – “deep cleaning” – or ozone therapy may be enough to resolve it in its early stages, surgical measures may be called for as it worsens. Yet the thought of surgery –...
We’ve looked before at how exercise supports healthy teeth and gums just as much as it does your overall health and well-being. Now new research suggests that one of the ways this happens is by keeping inflammation under control. Inflammation, of course, is a common...
If you have an advanced stage of gum disease, you know how devastating to oral health it can be. Left unchecked, gum disease will destroy your connective tissue attachment and periodontal tissues. It’s aninfection that can cause pain, tooth mobility, and tooth loss....
Oh, sure, you’re familiar with the the tools used for your dental cleaning – the spit sucker, the water shooter, the air blower, the dreaded scraper (to use their familiar, not clinical, names) Then there’s the ultrasonic scaler. The what?! Ultrasonic scaler – a tool...
Good hygiene is only a part of preventing – or reversing – gum disease. While hygiene helps keep periopathogens under control, nutrition helps restore the tissues that they wreck. On the one hand, it’s about limiting foods that feed the harmful bacteria in your mouth...