Part 4: A Gummy Situation

Dealing with Periodontal Disease ( gum infection) has come a long way too.  We now know it takes bacteria 24 hours to organize into harmful plaque.  If we disrupt that colonizing process at least once a daily with effective home care, tooth or gum infection can't occur.  What determines "effective" depends on the individual situation.  In healthy mouths, flossing and brushing (manual or electric) is usually enough.  You don't even need toothpaste.  We often recomment dry brushing so you aren't tied to the bathroom.  Pick out a half hour TV program and brush your teeth and gums while you watch.

Patients with bleeding gums and/or pockets need more attention.  Water irrigation, antibiotic therapy, and professional cleaning are saving may formerally condemmed teeth.  Referal to a Periodontist may be necessary in more advanced cases.  Just remember, chronic bleeding in your mouth is a sign of infection that needs attention.  You wouldn't put up with it on your face, don't put up with it in your mouth!

Thanks to pioneers like Dr. Bob Barkley from Macomb, IL., the era of Preventive Dentistry took hold.  Thankfully, he was the first lecturer I heard after dental school.  He was giving his first lecture to another dental society and it changed the way I practiced for the rest of my career.  Over the years we became good friends and led me to eventually becoming the President of the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Preventive Dentistry that he started.  Unfortunately his leadership was cut short by an airplane accident.  The above link by Dr. Bob Frazier is a good read about one of the few original thinkers I have had the privledge to know!  Next time - what nutrition ( the Substrate circle) has to do with all of this.