Category — periodontal disease

If spring cleaning has hit you, include an inside job. Get your teeth cleaned to brighten your smile and avoid gum disease.

Take this opportunity to make a dental appointment for yourself and your family. Get your teeth as clean, fresh, and sparkling as your home.

If you have one denture or partials, you must have your remaining teeth cleaned. Take care of the teeth you still have.

Keep smiling.

Saundra Goodman
Got Teeth? A Survivor’s Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
www.gotteethguide.com

 Beets are nature’s simple, unassuming, deliciously sweet, deep dark ruby red, low fat delivery system for calcium, potassium, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and sugar with an earthy flavor and enough nutritional value to make them vital for our oral and overall health.

They are a colorful winter root vegetable that have become available all year in red, yellow, orange, white, and variegated. First documented in 8^th Century BC, Mesopotamia, beets were used in folk medicine for the treatment of fevers and constipation in Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe.

As I wax poetic about the beet, I recall homemade bowls of borscht on my mother’s dining room table with dollops of sour cream in their middles. Pickled beets, beet juice, and beets in salads and curries are popular in America, South America, Europe, Eastern Europe, India, and some parts of Africa. [Read more →]

If a serial killer with a family and a job can take time to floss, so can you.

Keep smiling. 

Saundra Goodman
Got Teeth? A Survivor’s Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
www.gotteethguide.com

I hope 2012 will be a bright, shiny, healthy, happy year for all.

My goal is to return to blogging in spite of my unfortunate spine,  and in your best interests. I remain a dental patient, a health blogger, and a patient advocate.

Saundra Goodman
Got Teeth? A Survivor’s Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
www.gotteethguide.com

It’s Earth Day 2010. Please take action to protect Planet Earth for the rest of your life. Encourage all of your family members and friends to turn the water off every time they brush their teeth (at least twice a day). Run the water to rinse your mouth.

That’s it. That’s all you have to do to be a Water Warrior and a good environmental citizen.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says, “The average bathroom faucet flows at a rate of two gallons per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at bedtime can save up to 8 gallons of water per day, which equals 240 gallons a month!”

Depending on where your water resources come from, turning off the water while brushing your teeth can have a positive impact on springs, rivers, and wetland habitats for wildlife that would otherwise be damaged by water treatment plants. The impacts from taking water out of processing can be lessened in small ways that will positively affect the future of Planet Earth. 

Applying this practice will equal a savings of 2,880 gallons of water each year for every individual in the United States who takes this simple step. [Read more →]

It is your responsibility to control diabetes. Don’t let diabetes control you.

Get the story at this link:  http://gotteethguide.com/tag/american-diabetes-association/

What I know for sure is that it’s all connected.

Saundra Goodman
Got Teeth? A Survivor’s Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
www.gotteethguide.com

Yes. Two years ago in October I had periodontal laser surgery. I had it again this October. My periodontist and I thought my teeth would be fine because I vigilantly brush and floss regularly and get my teeth cleaned every three months.

I write my truth, so I have to tell you that I have a weak spot involving three teeth and the dreaded periodontal disease flared up again in the exact same spot. It’s been 12 days since my surgery and I’m still on soft food so I’m a bit cranky. The next step? Provisional splinting (bonding). I’ll do the research before I  get the procedure and let you know how that goes in a couple of months. It costs $100.00 a tooth.

I’m feeling a bit defeated, but I will not give up and I don’t want you to give up either if you’re experiencing gum disease. Leave a comment and let me know what your problems are and how or if you’re solving them. [Read more →]

You know what to do.

Make an appointment to get your teeth examined and cleaned. Your dental hygienist will give you a new toothbrush and floss and another lesson in brushing and flossing.

Make an appointment for your kids and parents, too.  And make your next appointment before leaving your dental professional’s office.

Keep smiling.

Saundra Goodman
Got Teeth? A Survivor’s Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
www.gotteethguide.com

The newest fashion obsession of tongue piercing is associated with tongue infections, tooth fractures, periodontal (gum) disease, heart problems, respiratory tract disease, a higher risk of deadly brain abscesses, and even death.1. “There are many potential complications, ranging from pain and swelling to chipped or cracked teeth. Patients who have oral piercings can also suffer receding gums and prolonged bleeding,” said Damien Walmsley, scientific adviser to the British Dental Association.

1. “You’re sticking a metal object through both sides of the tongue and what that’s going to do is obviously create a pathway via which bacteria from the mouth, from the saliva, which is pretty grubby, can gain access to the tongue and then spread through the tongue through to some other tissues,” said lead researcher Hans Zola.

2. According to a case reported in the Archives of Neurology, a 22-year-old man died from multiple brain abscesses weeks after getting his tongue pierced, indicating that people with oral piercings are more likely to develop fatal infections. [Read more →]

The goal of periodontal treatment is to control and stop the infection. It can’t always save the affected teeth.

These are 6 common preventative treatments of differing degrees:

1. Removing plaque and tartar from above and below the gum line (hurts).
2. Removing hard deposits from the root (hurts).
3. Removing diseased tissue and infection from the tissue lining and jawbone (hurts).
4. Prescribing antibacterial mouth rinses and/or antibiotics (doesn’t hurt).
5. Reshaping your bite by grinding a tooth’s surface (doesn’t hurt).
6. Splinting teeth together to stabilize loose teeth (never had it, don’t know).

Treatments range from deep cleaning (scaling and root planing), flap surgery, bone and tissue grafts, and bone transplants. [Read more →]