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Periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the time it takes to become pregnant

Posted on 01. Oct, 2011 by wisdom.

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Research presented at the the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology earlier this year showed that periodontal disease (gum disease) might increase the length of time it takes for a woman to become pregnant. Periodontal disease has been linked to many different types of systemic disease. Periodontal disease can lead to inflammation and bleeding around the gums which can lead to spaces called periodontal pockets.

The research was led by Roger Hart who is a Professor of Reproductive Medicine and is also Medical Director of Fertility Specialists of the University of Western Australia. A total of 3737 pregnant women in the study were followed and outcomes of pregnancy were looked at for 3416 of the 3737 pregnant women. It was found that women who had periodontal disease (gum disease) took around 7 months to become pregnant while those women who did not have periodontal disease took roughly 5 months to become pregnant.

Professor Hart said

“Our data suggest that the presence of periodontal disease is a modifiable risk factor, which can increase a woman’s time to conception, particularly for non-Caucasians. It exerts a negative influence on fertility that is of the same order of magnitude as obesity.”

The reason why non-Caucasians have longer time’s to conception while having periodontal disease may be due to a higher level of inflammatory response.

More information on periodontal disease and how it is a risk of keeping wisdom teeth is found on the risks of keeping wisdom teeth page on this site. Due to the link of periodontal disease with many different types of systemic disease it has received much attention from researchers lately and is often a reason given for why healthy wisdom teeth should be extracted at a young age. Even so there is a lot of controversy on whether or not healthy wisdom teeth should be extracted as discussed on the wisdom teeth controversy page of this site.

Source: European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Gum disease can increase the time it takes to become pregnant. July 5, 2011. http://www.eshre.eu/membership/page.aspx/1355

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How to Prevent Gum Disease and Cavities

Posted on 13. May, 2011 by wisdom.

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The following is a Guest Post by Dr. Richard Mitchell who has been a dentist for over 30 years and has experience in 6 different countries. Dr. Richard Mitchell has a website with excellent dental advice at dental-health-advice.com

It’s impossible to guarantee problem-free teeth, but you can stack the odds in your favor by following a short routine each day!

FIFTEEN MINUTES A DAY.

That’s all it takes to really make a difference. Can you find 15 minutes?

Here’s a bonus.

You don’t have to spend those fifteen minutes in the bathroom – with a little practice, you can do most of the work sitting on the couch watching TV!

OK, what are the things to do?

First of all, don’t worry about the brand of toothbrush. Like Lance Armstrong said, “it’s not the bike”. When we’re talking about getting plaque off your teeth, I could say “it’s not the brush”. It’s HOW YOU USE IT. And I can give you two tips right here;

1. To get rid of the plaque off your teeth, you actually have to brush the GUM EDGES. That’s where the plaque sits. All around the edges of the gums.

2. Most people brush their teeth for less than 60 seconds. But it should be OVER 5 MINUTES ! If you have an electric brush, ignore the 2-minute timer. Dental plaque is quite sticky, and you have to use the brush head on the gum edge of each tooth for a full 10 seconds PER TOOTH.

And you also have to brush the gum edges on the “inside”, next to your tongue on the lower teeth, and along the edges of your palate on the uppers.

BUT WHAT SORT OF BRUSH?

It doesn’t matter too much. But ideally it should have a SMALL brush head, and SOFT bristles. And you need to replace it every 6 weeks.

ANYTHING ELSE?

After you’ve slowly gone round each tooth, nearly all the plaque should be gone. You can check how well you’ve done by chewing a disclosing tablet and seeing if it shows up any areas you missed. You can get disclosing tablets at the pharmacy.

AND FINALLY, you need to clean the bits where the toothbrush can’t reach – in between the teeth! The best way is with dental floss, but I recommend looking for dental “TAPE”. Most folks find dental tape easier to use than floss.

If you’re new to flossing, start by flossing around a couple of front teeth. Then you can see what you’re doing more easily. After doing this for a week or so, you can start to floss around the eye teeth too, then a week later move back to include the premolar teeth. Gradually you’ll work up to flossing the back teeth. These are the most difficult to get to, so take your time and concentrate on the front teeth at first. Once you get the knack, it gets easier!

If you spend just 15 minutes a day on getting the plaque off your teeth, you will be massively reducing your chances of dental problems. That could be a huge money-saver too!

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Vitamin D Can Help Prevent Gum Infections

Posted on 21. Jan, 2011 by wisdom.

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A study appearing in the June 2011 issue of Infection and Immunity titled “Vitamin D-Mediated Induction of Innate Immunity in Gingival Epithelial Cells.” written by Laura McMahon and et al. (vol. 79, no. 6, pages 2250-2256), suggests that making sure you have enough Vitamin D can help with the immune defense in the oral cavity.

The authors found that an innate immune regulator TREM-1 can be induced by treating gingival cells with vitamin D.

While still much work needs to be done looking at how exactly vitamin D can fight infections there is potential for targeted therapies in the future.

The authors state

“As vitamin D and calcium defciences can lead to increased inflammation, it is reasonable to hypothesize that there is an association with periodontal disease….vitamin D-mediated gene regulation of the innate immune response may be associated with the initial defense against colonization by periodontal pathogens.”

For now all you can do is make sure you have enough Vitamin D in your diet and consider taking a supplement. Periodontal disease is explained further on the risks of keeping wisdom teeth page. Periodontal disease has been linked to systemic diseases and is often a reason why oral surgeons recommend having wisdom teeth removed at a young age. Of course a lot of controversy exists surrounding removing healthy wisdom teeth as discussed on the wisdom teeth controversy page. Even so if you decide to keep your healthy wisdom teeth taking a Vitamin D supplement may be something to consider to potentially help prevent possible future gum infections.

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Treating Gum Disease Helps Rheumatoid Arthritis

Posted on 11. Jul, 2009 by wisdom.

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Researchers from the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland recently reported that people who cure their gum disease can decreased their arthritic pain if they surrfer from rheumatoid arthritis.

“It was exciting to find that if we eliminated the infection and inflammation in the gums, then patients with a severe kind of active rheumatoid arthritis reported improvement on the signs and symptoms of that disease,” said Nabil Bissada, D.D.S.

According to Ali Askari, M.D., chair of the department of rheumatology at University Hospitals, “From way back, rheumatologists and other clinicians have been perplexed by the myth that gum disease may have a big role in causing systematic disease.”

Askari and Bissada are part of a team of researchers that studied 40 patients with periodontal disease and a severe form of rheumatoid arthritis.

The study results should prompt rheumatologists to encourage their patients to be aware of the link between periodontal disease and rheumatoid arthritis, says Askari.

Bissada notes that gum disease tends to be prevalent in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Both inflammatory diseases share similarities in the progression of the disease over time. In both diseases, the soft and hard tissues are destroyed from inflammation caused by toxins from bacterial infection.

“Again we are seeing another link where good oral health improves the overall health of an individual,” says Bissada.

Adapted from materials provided by Case Western Reserve University.