Control periodontal disease with laser surgery.

My Halloween highlight was Laser Periodontal Therapy™ surgery at 9:00 AM, October 31, 2007 to save and restore two hopeless teeth and the gums that surround them.

The laser-based surgery is new in town and is cutting edge (no pun intended). It offers no cutting and no stitches, which means less pain, less bleeding, less swelling, less tissue removal, less down time, and less recovery time.

This was my first laser surgery and I was so nervous walking through the parking lot into the dental office, I think I developed an eye twitch.

The staff smiled and helped me relax while the vanilla-scented nose cone was attached to the Nitrous Oxide hook-up. My periodontist administered numerous Novocaine injections and I was given goggles with green lenses to wear, which would protect my eyes from the laser. It was the ultimate Halloween experience.

My periodontist and his team have the newest equipment and training to control periodontal (gum) disease. If you’ve been told you need periodontal surgery to save your teeth, ask about this new laser technique. It can save your teeth and your money.

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

Saundra

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

Menopausal women, postmenopausal women and gum disease.

It just never stops.

Dry mouth, pain, burning sensations, and changes in taste (peppery, salty, sour) are mild compared to the risk factors that include poor diet and low calcium intake, diabetes, cavities, and poor oral hygiene.

Menopause can cause gums to be sore and sensitive. A small percentage of women are affected by menopausal gingivitis, when gums might look shiny or dry, bleed, and range in color from pale to deep red.

Postmenopausal women can acquire something that is not clearly understood or easily pronounceable called desquamative gingivitis. This disease causes layers of the gums to shed and leaves the gum tissue raw and the nerves exposed.

What does this mean to you?

Debate continues among professionals regarding hormone replacement therapy. Some say it can cause gums to redden, bleed, and swell, and some say it will relieve the symptoms. So give us a break already.

Prevention is the key. Speak to your dental and health professionals and do your own research if you are menopausal or post-menopausal. Visit your dental professional at least twice a year for check-ups and professional cleaning.

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

Saundra
Got Teeth? A Survivor's Guide
How to keep your teeth or live without them.
http://www.gotteethguide.com/

October is National Dental Hygiene Month.

If you haven’t been to the dentist this year, now is the time to begin your oral health regime. Regular check-ups will identify periodontal disease (gum disease) and help you save your teeth and half of your bank account.

Gum disease (periodontal disease) is silent and painless when it begins and affects 75% of the population. That’s 3 out of every 4 people. Are you one of them?

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

Saundra

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

STOP DRINKING SODA AND SAVE YOUR TEETH

Soda can rust your teeth.
Remember hearing that soda pop can rust a car engine? It can. It damages the enamel on your teeth the same way, which can lead to periodontal disease and tooth loss. Soda pop is the most acidic beverage on the market and acid oxidizes everything it touches. Battery acid has a lower ph threshold than soda and sports drinks.

Soda also contains high levels of phosphorous that leach calcium from your bones. The Detox Diet author Dr. Elson Haas says, "Tooth loss, periodontal disease, and gingivitis can be problems, especially with a high phosphorus intake, particularly from soft drinks."

Food Politics author Dr. Marion Nestle states, "Sugar and acid in soft drinks so easily dissolve tooth enamel."

Dr. James Howenstein, author of A Physician’s Guide to Natural Health Products That Work, states, "In an interesting experiment the sugar from one soft drink was able to damage the white blood cells’ ability to ingest and kill bacteria for seven hours."

Diet soda won’t save you or your teeth.
The American Dental Association confirms that phosphoric acid, sugar and citric acid are the ingredients in soda that "erode tooth enamel, inviting two oral wrecking balls, bacteria and plaque, to carve cavities in healthy teeth."

Diet soda is worse than regular soda. In her book The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children, Carol Simontacchi wrote, "One liter of an aspartame-sweetened beverage can produce about fifty-six milligrams of methanol. When several of these beverages are consumed in a short period of time (one day, perhaps), as much as two hundred fifty milligrams of methanol are dumped into the bloodstream, or thirty-two times the EPA limit." Now you’re poisoning your body and ruining your teeth.

Still "Dewing" it?
Mountain Dew - 20 ounce is the worst soda on the market. It contains 19 teaspoons of sugar and 93 milligrams of caffeine. That’s almost the equivalent of an adult dose of NoDoz.

Still having trouble believing that little can or bottle of soda can cause so much damage? It’s all about the marketing. Do the research. Go to http://www.dentalgentlecare.com/, http://www.listafterlist.com/, and the American Dental Association at http://www.ada.org/ for more information.

If you care about your teeth and your health, stop "Dewing" it!

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

To your health!

Saundra