Of all the potential causes of adult tooth loss, severe periodontal disease is the leading one among adults in the United States. Also known as gum disease, the condition relentlessly attacks your gums and periodontal tissues, eventually reaching your jawbone structure and eroding it, too. This process can leave one or more of your teeth without adequate support, and they may fall out or require extraction because your dental ridge can no longer retain them. The good news, however, is that periodontal disease is highly preventable with consistent hygiene and preventive dental care. Even if you do develop gum disease, seeking expert care from your periodontist can help you avoid losing one or more teeth to the disease. (more…)
Why You Should Quit Smoking if You Want Dental Implants
For replacing lost or extracted teeth, dental implants are typically the most comprehensive option. Dental implant posts replace your lost teeth roots, and therefore have a profoundly positive impact on your long-term jawbone, periodontal, and oral health. However, if you indulge in smoking, then your eligibility for dental implant placement can be at risk. In fact, your periodontist may recommend quitting the habit before recommending implant placement; otherwise, your implants may not succeed in restoring your smile. (more…)
How Does Gum Disease Affect Your Facial Appearance?
When allowed to progress far enough, periodontal disease can destroy enough of your oral tissues to cost you one or more teeth. Although tooth loss can be a devastating result of the disease, it is not the end of your dental troubles. Even if you treat the disease that cost you one or more teeth, their loss may be just the beginning of a host of concerns, including the destruction of your smile’s foundation. Today, we explore the resounding effects that tooth loss can have on your oral health—specifically your jawbone—and how those effects can be seen increasingly more in your facial appearance. (more…)
A Closer Look at Why Dental Implants Are So Successful
In the quest to replace missing teeth, you have several options. If you’ve only lost one or two adjacent teeth, then a bridge may be most appropriate. For more severe or total tooth loss, a partial or complete denture may serve you better. In most cases, however, the addition of dental implants can help your prosthesis more successfully rebuild your smile, with significant immediate and long-term benefits. Today, we look at why dental implants are so successful, and why the root-like posts are the best way to protect the rest of your healthy smile after tooth loss. (more…)
How Oral Bacteria Destroy More than Teeth and Gums
Right now, there are about 10-15 billion bacteria in your mouth, classified into over 600 different identifiable strains. Many types of bacteria are essential to maintaining your body’s delicate ecological balance, and many of the microbes in your mouth do exactly that. Some, however, are dangerous, and can become severely detrimental to your teeth, gums, facial structures, and more if not addressed. Today, we take a look at the most harmful oral bacteria and how failing to control them can lead to disastrous consequences for more than just your teeth and gums. (more…)
How Healthy Gums Can Lead to a Healthier Heart
Did you know that practicing good dental hygiene can reduce your risk for some forms of heart disease? Research has shown that many of the same mechanisms behind aggressive dental diseases, mainly gum disease, can also prove hazardous to your systemic wellbeing. With inflammation as the major common denominator, gum disease and heart disease are more closely related than many patients realize. (more…)
A Quick Guide to Fresher Breath
Teeth stains may be the most common cosmetic dental blemish, but foul breath is more prevalent, and affects nearly everyone at some point in their lives. Fortunately, bad breath is also typically easier to defeat than teeth stains, or other dental health issues, like cavities or gum disease. Though chronically bad breath, or halitosis, can sometimes indicate an underlying health issue, it’s often the result of poor hygiene. Therefore, beating bad breath could simply mean improving how well you take care of your teeth and gums. (more…)
A Surprising Secret in Your Wisdom Teeth
By the time most people reach their early 20s, all of their permanent teeth have grown in. For many, those include a third set of molars, often referred to as wisdom teeth, that may not fit as comfortably on the dental ridges as other teeth do. Impacted wisdom teeth are third molars that can’t erupt properly because your other molars are in the way, and they’re infamous for the discomfort they cause and the frequency with which they’re extracted. However, there’s more to know about your wisdom teeth than what common knowledge encompasses, and their secret may revolutionize modern dental and health care. (more…)
Important Facts About Oral Cancer Detection
Cancer occurs from the uncontrolled division of abnormal cells, and it can manifest itself in virtually any part of your body. Many casual conversations about cancer, however, do not always include oral cancer, instead concentrating on more notorious forms, such as breast cancer. Despite the lack of attention, however, oral cancer continues to run rampant with close to 40,000 Americans newly diagnosed every year. To help raise awareness of this destructive malady, we discuss oral cancer and the importance of early detection. (more…)
The Advantage of Lifelike Dental Implants
Although advanced dentistry can help save your smile from almost any dental issue, there are still occasions when tooth loss is imminent, such as from dental trauma or severe periodontal disease. As impressive as preventive dental treatments are, our ability to replace the entire structure of a lost tooth is even more so. As a periodontal specialist, Dr. Kania is specially trained to restore teeth and their foundations. Today, we help you gain a better understanding of tooth loss and the benefits of dental implants. (more…)