New findings lead to simple and serious advice: brush your teeth to prevent Alzheimer's Disease.
It seems overly simplistic, but it is true. The link between inflammatory illnesses and Alzheimer's was studied over the last 40 years through the Swedish Twin Registry.
In the study, sets of twins were studied. In 109 cases, one twin had Alzheimer's Disease and the other did not and the inflammatory nature of many diseases, including periodontal disease, has been shown to play a role in developing the Alzheimer's.
Additionally, people suffering from Alzheimer's Disease are more likely to develop and have difficulty getting control over periodontal disease due to decreased mental ability and memory loss. Other risk factors for Alzheimer's Disease are:
- Age
- Family History
- Genetics
- Heart Health
- Injury
- Gender (women are more likely)
- Education Level
The connection between diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol and Alzheimer's disease is becoming more and more apparent with new studies. These are the risk factors that can be controlled by the individual unlike genetics and gender.
It is important to provide young people with necessary dental care because youth and young adults diagnosed with periodontal disease are more likely to develop Alzheimer's later in life.
Dentistry can be approached in a holistic manner in order to increase longevity as well as quality of life, accounting for overall health as well as the health of your mouth.
Hi Everyone,
I have wanted to share this story with you in case there is room in your life to help another person.
Over the last couple of years, we have been seeing a patient from the Smile Again program through MDDS. I will call her Sarah. Sarah came to us with a history of addiction, having been in an abusive relationship and was living in a recovery facility in Denver. We were not even able to call her directly on the phone and did not know her real name, which made scheduling appointments a relay phone game.
She was quiet, friendly and wanted to have a beautiful smile. Her struggles took their toll on her teeth and her overall health. She is a charmer and we all fell in love with her immediately. She loved to come to our office where we enjoyed pampering patients with "little extras" like hot chocolate and neck warmers. She showed up to her appointments, as promised, and as the improvements to her smile began, her transformation began to take place. The patient who was once sort of quiet and shy began to share with us the history of her struggle, the fact that she has children and even a grandchild and how much it meant to her to really get her life on track. Our relationship with Sarah over the last two years has taught us that taking a leap of faith and believing in someone can make all the difference in the world. And I believe she has enriched our lives as much or more than we have enriched hers.
Today, Sarah attends college to become a psychologist in order to help others who have faced similar struggles. And though her program has ended, she is still our patient and our friend.
We are Grateful,
Kristine
Flossie Posse,
Do you kiss your dogs on the lips? I do, I'll admit it. Well, I kiss them on their noses, really, but their noses are pretty close to their lips. I'm not sure why I do this, given the fact that I know what they do with their mouths. There is not a week that goes by when Nyla, the younger of my two Jack Russell Terriers, brings me something dead. Sometimes I think it was dead when she found it and sometimes I know it wasn't. Regardless, she does not discriminate and is very proud of her treasures. The old man Jack Russell, Puck, mostly gets in trash and finds bones and other bacteria infested morsels. Either way, logic tells me the old saying that a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human mouth can not be true. So I did a little research.
What I did find is that most infections carried by dogs are not transmissible to humans and vice versa. The infections such as staph and strep that they might carry are species specific.
According to ABC news, the bites inflicted by humans on humans are more likely to become infected than bites inflicted by dogs on humans. I was relieved I could not find any research regarding human bites and their affect on dogs. I am sure that news would be bad all the way around.
But is a dog's mouth cleaner based on bacteria counts etcetera? The short answer is no. After all, a dog's tongue is not only used for eating and drinking, but also as a washcloth and toilet paper.
I will probably continue to kiss my dogs. Since I work in a dental office, I am certain that my dogs have cleaner mouths than most dogs. I do brush their teeth with special peanut butter flavored toothpaste. I just try not to think too much about the details.
How could you not kiss this face?
Smooch!
Kristine
I worked for a large natural retailer for about ten years and I had the BEST job within that company. It was so amazing! I was in charge of the beer, wine, coffee, cheese, chocolate and olive department. It was easy to get excited about going to work when wine and cheese tasting started at 7am and moved through the afternoon.
I placed wine orders on Tuesdays and the wine representative from the largest company I worked with would come in on Tuesdays, sometimes bringing twenty or so samples. His name was Chris. This was a great thing to get paid to do, except for one thing. Our "tasting room" was basically the place where we did the dishes. It was small and hot and steamy and Chris had breath that smelled like three day old road kill on a hot street in July. It was terrible. It was so bad, I was thinking that he could not possibly taste the wine. How could he detect the subtle nuances of vanilla that French oak imparted into the wines? How could he detect the creaminess of the malolactic fermentation on a California chardonnay with all of the bacteria in his mouth? I could barely stand to be in the hot, steamy tasting room with him and would often delegate the job to one of my employees. It was sad to give up free wine.
I had to do something for Chris. I debated back and forth about what to say and how to say it. I knew it was my responsibility to say something given my family history in dentistry and with the additional knowledge that provided me.
Ultimately, I told him he was my friend and I cared about him and asked him if anyone had ever told him he had bad breath before. To my surprise he said, "Yes, all the time."
"Does that concern you?" I asked.
"Not really," he said. "I have always had bad breath."
"Did you know that it is caused from bacteria?" I asked.
"No," he said.
"Yes," I said. "The same types of bacteria that are found in carcasses and feces. And all of that bacteria can complicate and cause systemic diseases such as diabetes and can increase your chances of a heart attack."
"Wow," he said. "I didn't know."
"I'm only telling you because I care about you. Especially since your profession involves interpersonal relationships with people who have a highly trained sense of smell," I said.
I left the company shortly thereafter. Reports from my old team were that Chris's breath did not improve that much. But at least I did my part to help stop the stink. It was not an easy thing to do, but I feel better that I did it.
ADA News January 19th, 2009
Perio treatment may lower diabetics’ medical costs
Posted Jan. 29, 2009. By Jennifer Garvin
Ann Arbor, Mich.—Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry have discovered that treating periodontal disease may be linked to lower medical costs for diabetics.
Dr. George Taylor, a member of the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs and an associate professor of dentistry at UM, led the study, which analyzed Blue Care Network claims from 2,674 people with diabetes ages 18 to 64. All of the individuals were enrolled in the Blue Care Network between 2001 and 2005 and had at least 12 consecutive months of medical, dental and pharmaceutical coverage.
“We found insured adults with diabetes in Michigan who received routine periodontal treatment, such as dental cleanings and scaling, have significantly lower medical care costs than those who do not,” Dr. Taylor said. “These results could be meaningful to individuals, employers, health care providers and insurers.”
The study, which has not been published, revealed that medical care costs decreased by an average of 11 percent per month for BCN members who received one or two periodontal treatment procedures annually compared to those who received no treatments. For the patients who received three or four treatments, costs decreased nearly 12 percent.
“The results of our analyses provide additional evidence supporting a beneficial role for periodontal treatment in improving overall health for people with diabetes,” Dr. Taylor said, adding that he hopes the study leads to a pilot program with expanded periodontal treatment benefits that might determine if there would be further reductions in health care costs and improved systemic health and oral health for people with diabetes.
The study was sponsored by a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation.
For more information about the study, visit www.dent.umich.edu