Your mouth is both a window to your health and a doorway to disease! In fact, an article published in the Harvard Dental Bulletin was entitled, “Floss or die: the link between oral health and cardiac disease.”

Research has linked advanced gum disease to serious and even life-threatening conditions like heart attack and stroke! The more you brush, floss and have regular cleanings, the less likely you are to develop gum disease.

Every day counts!! What you have just read should give you a big hint as to why daily home oral hygiene should be a top priority in your life. Because no matter how busy your schedule the simple fact is that you eat every day. And failure to properly clean your teeth on a daily basis can result in gum disease. Bottom line: Gum disease can lead to tooth loss, bone loss and health losses!

You know what happens to food that’s been left out too long. Something similar happens when you don’t remove food residue from your teeth and gums. That’s when plaque forms!

Plaque, a mixture of saliva, bacterial and food debris, forms on your teeth every single day. An every day, millions of bacteria that clump together in plaque secrete toxins that eventually cause decay and gums disease. Let’s face it: An unhealthy mouth will compromise you health and slow you down. Don’t let dental neglect devour your health time, energy, confidence, and money! Advance gum disease can weaken your immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to other diseases.  

Tooth loss can make you look 10 years older! The resulting bone loss creates “sunken cheeks” and wrinkles.  Imagine reaching your 50s, 60s or older and discovering there were no option available to replace one, several, or all of your lost teeth?

The fact is that if all of your teeth are missing and not replaced, the lower one-third of your face can collapse, creating the effect that your chin is trying to touch your nose. For some folks this is a nightmare come to life. Excessive bone loss due to gum disease like periodontitis and teeth extractions means you may not be a candidate for crowns, fixed bridges, dental implants, partials dentures or even complete dentures!

The problems is that limiting your tooth replacement options will lead to further bone loss and less comfortable choices.

Think prevention. Your jawbone, gums and teeth help define your unique facial structure. Unreplaced tooth loss, and resulting bone loss, can alter you appearance and speech, erode your self-confidence, affect your diet and harm your health and can also impair your social, personal and professional life.

We all know that changes occur naturally as a result of the aging process. However, when gums disease like periodontitis is ignored and lost teeth are not replaced, the process of bone loss and facial aging is grossly accelerated.

Whether a tooth is lost due to infection or injury, without natural chewing forces the bone in that area is no longer stimulated and begins to shrink almost immediately. Significant bone loss always occurs within the first year, which is why tooth replacement should not be delayed. Tooth loss, especially if infection was involved, can result in 40% to 60% bone loss in a period of just two to three years.

Bone deterioration does not stop at the area underneath the missing tooth; it can progress to the bone under healthy teeth creating further tooth loss. Since the facial changes occur gradually, you may not notice them, but those around you may.

You can reduce bone loss and completely eliminate tooth loss. By focusing on prevention and working with an exceptional dental team, you can prevent the damaging effects of gum disease and decay. If you are about to lose a tooth or have a tooth to be extracted, there are a number of ways to prevent your jawbone – at the time of the extraction. If you have missing teeth in need of replacement, a dental team can discuss the many options that best suit your need.

Prevention is the key to avoiding the nightmare of unnecessary tooth loss and the damage it can do to your health, emotional well-being and appearance.

Answer: This may surprise you...gums disease is the primary cause of adult tooth loss. And you can have gum disease like perodontitis and gingivitis without any noticeable symtoms. Gum disease  like periodontitis not only leads to tooth loss, but also bone loss, and is a source of infection for the entire body!

Answer: No! Beeding gums are never normal. Bleeding is a sign of a gum tenderness, irritation and infection. Think of gum tissue as you would the skin on your hands. If your nails bled every time you used a nail brush to clean them, you would instinctively know "something" was wrong. The same holds true when it comes to your gums. Bleeding causes bacterimia which is the presence of bacteria in the blood. Bleeding gums is one of the  signs of periodontitis and gingivitis. 

ANSWER: Yes! Often we can detect the first stages of osteoporosis based on dental xrays, a review of your medical history and a comprehensive oral exam. Bone loss, excessive tooth loss, loose or ill-fitting dentures and gum disease can provide clues to the possibility of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis can also accelerate gum disease.