As you may be aware, the past 10 years have provided much insight into what is known as the oral systemic connection. There is a link between chronic inflammatory periodontal(gum) infections and systemic diseases such as heart attacks, diabetes, stroke, and some forms of cancers.
Oral Health and Systemic Disease: What You Need to Know
Periodontal disease is a type of oral (gum) problem that starts with bad breath, bleeding gums and can end in tooth loss. There are three important characteristics which make periodontal disease worthy of our attention.
1) Asymptomatic
At this point, there is no pain until it’s in the latest, final stages when teeth become loose in the bone and cannot be saved. Most times only an X-ray and a dental exam will reveal a presence of this elusive disorder.
2) Irreversible
With these characteristics, most of the bone cannot be recovered during treatment. It is possible however with good oral hygiene, bone grafts and frequent (every 3 months) visits to the dentist to slow down or stop the progression of bone loss.
3) Contagious
As with any bacterial or viral disease, it is communicable from person to person. It can target people with weak immune systems. It can also occur among teenagers hence the name juvenile periodontitis. With an Oral Risk HPV test, we can determine if you are at increased risk for HPV-human papillomavirus related to oral and throat cancers.
What You Can Do To Ensure a Healthy Mouth
The connection between oral health and systemic disease is apparent. You may be wondering what you can do to keep you and your family healthy. The experts at Oral salivary diagnostics are working on a variety of tests which will be available to the public in the upcoming months. Right now there is a saliva test available which can tell you if you have a virus which causes mouth cancers, may be spread through oral sex, and is the number 1 cause for uterine-cervical cancer. This is particularly important to do now that children are becoming sexually active at an absurdly young age.
Contact Us at Laraway Family Dentistry to have a sample of saliva taken and sent to the lab. Results may be received within 7-10 business days.
The cost is $99.