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Gingivitis Treatments

Gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums, is a disease in the mouth that results from layers of bacterial build-up on the teeth. That can be because of a variety of factors but diet is usually the main culprit. Gingivitis treatment is imperative as the disease can develop into a secondary condition known as periodontics, which can cause a person’s teeth to fall out.

Gingivitis

Effective treatment for Gingivitis requires professional care followed by stepped up oral hygiene at home. Symptoms can include your gums turning red or purple or start to experience, soft gum tissue, receding gums, pain or tenderness in gums, bleeding gums, bad breath or swollen gums.

If you are experiencing  any of the above indicators, contact your Gentle Dental office immediately as they will perform the following:

  • An initial evaluation and thorough dental cleaning to remove all traces of plaque and tartar
  • Instruction on effective daily home brushing and flossing techniques
  • Regular follow-up professional checkups and cleaning
  • Fixing dental restorations that hinder adequate hygiene, if necessary

 
Then it is your responsibly to perform the following:

  • Brushing at least twice a day. An electric toothbrush may help you brush more effectively.
  • Flossing at least daily.
  • Using an antiseptic mouth rinse, if recommended by your dentist.

 
Fortunately if an early diagnosis is made, gingivitis can be treated. If not, it can lead to a slew of bigger problems. To learn more and to make an appointment, contact Gentle Dental at 1-888-513-7436.

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Dental Checkups Can Help Determine Early Detection of Diabetes

Most people go for a dental checkup for the simple reason of getting their overall oral health looked at and perhaps a professional cleaning done. But did you know, that by getting a dental checkup, can also tell you if you are becoming a diabetic? Well it can! A recent study by Columbia University College of Dental Medicine found that a pre-diabetes determination can be made by simply going to the dentist. Dental Check up

Columbia’s study looked at approximately 530 adults with at least one diabetes risk factor (family history of diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, or obesity). Each patient received a periodontal examination and a finger-stick, hemoglobin A1c test. Patients later returned for a fasting plasma glucose test, to show whether they have diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Researchers found that a basic algorithm of only two dental parameters (the number of missing teeth and percentage of deep periodontal pockets) was necessary to identify patients with unrecognized pre-diabetes or diabetes. The addition of the hemoglobin A1c test further improved the algorithm’s performance.

This study will vastly improve the prevention of Type 2 diabetes.  Periodontal disease, which is an early complication of diabetes can be identified by a simple Gentle Dental checkup. To make an appointment today, call 1-888-513-7436.

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How To Get Rid Of That Annoying Plaque!

Plaque, the annoying word everyone hates when they think of their teeth and constantly having to maintain it. Plaque is the major culprit for gum disease, which later on can lead to permanent tooth loss. Besides visiting your Gentle Dental dentist twice a year for cleanings,  plaque can become like pesky fly and almost never go away. Here are a few ways to fight back and destroy plaque on your teeth that can cause so many problems:

Use a Good Toothpaste – and make sure to use it every day, twice! Certain toothpastes contain abrasive ingredients which can help scrubbing away plaque deposits from the teeth. plaque

Use Dental Floss – Plaque is not sticking only on the back or front side of your teeth, but plaque forms easily in between the teeth. Make sure to use the floss after brushing your teeth, in order to eliminate the harmful formations.

Use Xylitol – This antibacterial sugar – alcohol sweetener is a common ingredient in many chewing gums and mouthwashes. Xylitol is a very powerful ingredient that is able to fight plaque.

Use An Electric or Sonic Toothbrush – These toothbrushes are much more powerful and can get in areas manual toothbrushes can’t when it comes to removing plaque.

Using one or more of these methods will definitely help in defeating the annoying “plaque attack” that is constantly occurring in our mouths everyday after we eat. If we follow these methods, we should be able to keep and save our pearly whites for years to come. For more information on plaque formation, other techniques to try and to make an appointment for a checkup or cleaning call your local Gentle Dental office at 1-888-513-7436.

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Dental Tips For Diabetics

If you live with diabetes you need to give extra special attention to your oral health. Periodontal disease is the number one risk for patients with diabetes. Periodontal or Gum Disease destroys the gums and bones that keep teeth in place. If those gums and teeth aren’t healthy there is a good possibility that tooth loss could occur.

Other oral health complications and side effects that diabetics might develop include infections in the mouth, dry mouth syndrome, and elevated levels of glucose in the saliva.

If  you are a diabetic you should follow typical dental hygiene practices including controlling your blood glucose regularly, floss & brush your teeth every day, and of course visit the dentist regularly. All these practices should help in preventing gum disease complications. diabetes

If you are a diabetic and experience an oral health problem, you should contact your Gentle Dental dentist immediately and inform them about the complication. You should also contact your Gentle Dental dentist if you experience sore gums or if your dentures begin to not fit properly.

Additionally when you brush your teeth, and if you notice that your gums are bleeding, that might be a first sign of gingivitis. If left untreated, a relatively common condition might turn into a severe gum disease complication.

To make an appointment with your local Gentle Dental dentist call 1-888-513-7436.

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Diagnosing Health Conditions With a Tooth Tattoo

Every day technology in medicine is getting bigger and bigger. Sometimes there is a big breakout and other times it is a small technological wonder that changes the way medicine is practiced.

Researchers at Princeton University in New Jersey have recently come up with a tiny dental device, which will help in diagnosing all sorts of dental infections and other general health complications. The device, also known as the “tooth-tattoo” is basically a sensor that is as thin as a piece of paper. This sensor is fused or attached to the surface of a tooth, and is able to diagnose different health conditions by measuring the amount of bacteria existent in the air the patient breathes out.

Tooth TattooMade of a special carbon plate the “tooth-tattoo” can measure the amount and type of bacteria present in the breath, and then will send this information to an external special device. By having this information diseases can be diagnosed by physicians and dentists in their early stages, so that the patient can receive proper treatment.

The tooth tattoo is not yet available, but according to the scientists involved in the research, it will be soon. This exciting new technology will be extremely helpful in the case of patients who are struggling with a weak immune system and who are extremely vulnerable in front of all sorts of infections. Only time will tell to see how successful it will be.

In the meantime keeping good oral health is very important to your overall health. To make an appointment for a checkup with your local Gentle Dental dentist call 1-888-513-7436.

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The Connection Between Teeth and Pregnancy

During pregnancy a woman will make quite a number of trips to the doctor for their baby and themselves. But you shouldn’t neglect dental health during pregnancy. Oral health impacts your overall health, making it important to take care of your teeth during pregnancy. Additionally, pregnancy can lead to dental problems, making regular visits to the dentist even more important.pregnant woman

There are many hormonal changes associated with pregnancy that can impact a woman’s dental health. So, don’t be surprised if you have an unexpected dental issue crop up during your pregnancy. When you are pregnant, you have more acidity in your mouth, which can increases your risk of tooth decay. Plus during pregnancy nausea and vomiting is frequent which exposes your teeth to more acidity which can lead to cavities.

Pregnancy-caused gingivitis is another oral-health-related concern and in extreme cases, can impact the health of you and your baby. Hormones can cause the gums to swell during pregnancy, resulting in mild gingivitis.

Treating oral-health issues when they first appear is essential during your pregnancy to prevent minor problems from becoming major ones. Regular dental checkups are perfectly safe for pregnant women and, in fact, are encouraged to ensure good oral health. To make an appointment with your local Gentle Dental office call 1-888-513-7436.

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Dental Plaque Bacteria Can Lead To Blood Clots

Endocarditis is the term referred to as inflammation of the heart’s lining. This type of inflammation can be caused by dental plaque bacteria and if not treated can be life threatening. The bacteria can also lead to blood clots when it enters the bloodstream.

Plaque-bacteriaResearchers have discovered that the plaque bacteria is able to produce a molecule on its surface that lets it mimic the human protein fibrinogen – a blood-clotting factor. When this occurs platelets in the body is activated causing them to clump inside blood vessels. These unwanted blood clots encase the bacteria, protecting them from the immune system and from antibiotics that might be used to treat infection. This unnecessary platelet clumping can though lead to growths on the heart valves (endocarditis), or inflammation of blood vessels that can block the blood supply to the heart or brain.

This potentially very serious condition all started from some plaque on the teeths surface. To avoid all these issues it is very important to take proper care of your mouth and gums at all times. That includes brushing regularly, flossing and making regular visits to your local Gentle Dental office for checkups and cleanings. To make an appointment call 1-888-513-7436.

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Dental Treatment and The ER

More and more Americans are turning to the emergency room for routine dental problems. This type of preventive care offers far fewer treatment options than a dentist’s office and can cost ten times the amount a regular visit may cost. Most of those emergency visits involve trouble such as toothaches that could have been avoided with regular checkups but went untreated.

Post-Emergency-RoomIn Florida alone, there were more than 115,000 ER dental visits in 2010, resulting in more than $88 million in charges. Many ER dental visits involve the same patients seeking additional care. But ERs aren’t usually staffed with dentists and can usually only offer pain relief and medicine for infected gums but not much more.

Gentle Dental wants to help in you avoiding throwing money down the drain by using the emergency room as your dental care provider. At Gentle Dental we accept a large variety of dental insurances and for those without dental insurance have a special VIP discount program. In addition we have online deeply discounted offer coupons for new adult and child patients.

Don’t let Dental Care go untreated! Make an appointment today with one of our 24 South Florida locations by calling 1-888-513-7436.

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Yes There Is An App For That!

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Apple’s  iPhone is one of the most popular smart phones on the planet and has millions of applications or apps that help all kinds of people in various aspects of their lives, even apps for your teeth and mouth. Below are few popular ones that may help with your oral health:

iphoneMouth & Teeth is a dental app which covers various topics of various dental problems including overall dental health, gum disease, oral cancer, snoring, tonsils and various other topics. It is a very informative app which covers various aspects of these issues.

Brushy Time is an app which helps you maintain the amount of time for which you brush your teeth and rinse your mouth. It has an  animated look that will be very helpful to teach children easily.

iBraces Help is a great app with useful information for patients who are currently using braces or patients who want to undergo orthodontic treatment. It includes pictures and videos with descriptions.

As you can see with technology, times are changing for all aspects of our life including our oral health. If you have an iphone or ipod touch try downloading a few of these great dental apps and to make an appointment with your local Gentle Dental office call 1-888-513-7436.

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Gum Disease Can Cause Breast Cancer

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A recent study conducted at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, found that women with gum disease which had advanced to the stage of losing teeth had a much higher chance of  being diagnosed with breast cancer. In this prospective clinical research study, 3,273 women between the ages of 30 and 40 years were evaluated between 85 and 2001.  Young women in this study who had documented chronic gum disease, or who had lost one or more molars due to gum disease, were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer when compared to women without periodontal disease. gingivitis

The exact mechanism whereby chronic gum disease increases cancer risk is unknown at this time but some experts have proposed that bacteria from chronically inflamed gums may enter into the bloodstream, and induce an inflammatory response that, in turn, causes cancer formation.

The good news is that daily flossing, along with regular professional cleanings can protect your health and prevent gum disease. If you experience red, swollen, sore, or bleeding gums, or premature tooth loss you may have periodonal (gum) disease and should see your Gentle Dental dentist immediately.  To make an appointment for a checkup or cleaning call 1-888-513-7436.

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