Periodontal Disease: The Top Oral Offender That Causes Patients to Need New Teeth

This article provides an over-view of periodontal (gum) disease: what it is, how it develops, what the symptoms of it are and how patients can prevent it.

Periodontitis or periodontal disease and gum disease are one and the same thing: one of the greatest causes of tooth loss in the United States. Left untreated, this terrible oral affliction is, more so than any other oral offender, guilty of leaving people without a single original adult tooth in their mouths. Sounds shocking, doesn’t it? Well, it shouldn’t be because currently 30% of our population is completely edentulous (toothless) and in dire need of new teeth as a result of gum disease! It’s a prevalent condition and is remarkably easy to develop, given the right mix of oral hygiene negligence and bad lifestyle.

In order to increase awareness of the dangers of periodontitis, we shall be exploring what this disease is, what the symptoms of it are and how you can go about preventing it from laying waste to your beautiful, youthful smile.

What is Periodontitis?

Periodontitis or gum disease is an advanced oral bacterial infection of the gums surrounding the teeth. In its early stages, such a condition is referred to as “gingivitis”. If allowed to progress without treatment or intervention of any kind, this infection can become advanced and migrate deep down into the gingival sulci or tooth sockets (see image above). Here, safe from the roaming bristles of your toothbrush or any other hygienic measure, the bacteria are left allowed to proliferate. Before long, deep pockets of bacterial waste and other nasty toxins accumulate between the gum walls and the roots of the teeth causing tooth decay and ultimately, tooth loss.

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Periodontitis?

In the initial stages of the disease, when it’s still known as “gingivitis” you may notice:

• Red, inflamed gums,
• Swollen gums that form larger “bubbles” between the teeth,
• Gums that tear and bleed easily, especially when brushing and flossing,
• Chronic bad breath,
• Some tooth discoloration caused by visible accumulations of calculus on the teeth.

In the advanced stages of gum disease, you may notice any or all of the above-mentioned symptoms in addition to:

• Gums that have receded unnaturally from the crowns of the teeth, exposing the darker roots underneath and leaving you looking “toothy”,
• Tooth discoloration,
• A brown mottling between the teeth and at the gum margins,
• Oral lesions or sores,
• Loose teeth,
• Teeth that fall out.

How Can I Prevent Gum Disease?

Periodontitis is caused by oral bacteria, which is thankfully easy to keep under control with good oral hygiene and regularly scheduled appointments with the dentist and oral hygienist. Avoiding tooth loss and the need for new teeth also come down to certain lifestyle choices, such as staying away from:

• Smoking
• Heavy drinking
• Drug abuse
• Eating disorders
• An unhealthy diet high in sugar and starch.

If you manage your health and any illnesses you may have (such as diabetes) and if you look after your teeth and gums, you should be able to keep them in excellent condition for life. Any implant specialist will tell you that not even dental implants can rival the sophistication and longevity of your own biological technology!

Avoid Getting New Teeth by Keeping Your Own in Excellent Lifelong Condition

This article provides the top 10 tips for excellent dental hygiene and oral health care. It also cautions against certain habits, behaviors and addictions that could ultimately lead to tooth loss.

Want to keep your teeth for life? Then there are a few things you should know about what it takes to keep your teeth and gums in excellent condition. Some of these “best practices” are second nature, such as brushing, but others you may not be aware of. Avoiding the need for new teeth implants requires a lifelong dedication to dental hygiene and oral health care. Here are the top 10 tips from implant specialists who have seen it all!

1. Brush your teeth at least two times a day, preferably more. Brush for two minutes at a time, dedicating 30 seconds per quadrant of the mouth. Be thorough because your aim is to eliminate as much plaque, bacteria and food debris as possible.

2. Floss your teeth every day, preferably before you go to bed at night. Flossing is an essential component to any home oral hygiene routine. If you don’t floss, you’re not looking after your teeth properly and it’s as simple as that.

3.  Make use of an ADA-approved anti-bacteria mouthwash in between brushes. It won’t only freshen your breath after lunch’s onion bagel, it’ll also help wash away food debris and discourage bacterial activity.

4. Teeth-grinding (Bruxism) and jaw-clenching do terrible damage to the enamel of your teeth. Over many years of Bruxism, people can grind their teeth down to the dentine! If you’re conscious of grinding your teeth during the day - a habit that is generally caused by stress - then try to stop it. If you grind your teeth at nighttime, as most people do, then have a mouth guard fitted by your dentist.

5. Diets that are high in sugar, starches and acid-rich beverages are bound to cause early tooth decay in people of all ages, even children whose teeth should be in optimal condition. View fizzy, sugar-rich beverages as treats, not as thirst-quenchers and try to limit your intake of:

• Soda
• Energy drinks
• Foods high in starch, such as potato chips and white breads
• Fruit juices
• Coffee and tea (or at least cut down on your sugar)
• Sweets and chocolates

6. Alcohol causes dry mouth, which impedes the natural flow of saliva leaving your teeth and gums more vulnerable to bacteria. Alcoholic beverages also tend to be high in sugars and acids. While it’s perfectly acceptable to enjoy a glass or two of wine with your dinner, cut down on the frequency with which you consume alcohol, as well as the amount.

7. Smoking or chewing tobacco is a death sentence in many more ways than one. If you fancy getting new teeth by the age of 45, keep up that 30-a-day habit.

8. Receive treatment for eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia. Both, as a result of malnutrition, can cause your teeth to fall out, but the latter has an especially vicious impact on dental health. It’s important not to ignore such an affliction for many reasons, but one of those reasons is for the good of your dental health, which is expensive and difficult to fix once damaged.

9. Keep regular scheduled appointments with your general dentist and oral hygienist. Prevention is better than cure!

10. If you ever do lose teeth, get new teeth with dental implants. Dental bridges require healthy teeth to be sacrificed in order to provide them with support.

New Teeth Cost: The Direct and Indirect Savings Made Possible by the “All-on-4TM” Protocol, PART 2

This two-part article series provides detailed insight into how the “All-on-4” dental implant technique saves patients tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of getting new and non-removable teeth placed.

Welcome back to our two-part article series on how the “All-on-4TM” dental implant protocol can save patients an incredible amount of money on the cost of getting new, non-removable teeth. In our previous article, we discussed the direct savings made possible what with this protocol only requiring 4 strategically placed dental implants (instead of 6, 8 or even 10) per jaw and a single placement surgery (as opposed to multiple). In this article, we’ll take a look at another key feature that directly contributes to the amount of money patients save on new teeth cost before addressing the indirect savings that make “All-on-4TM” implants a very smart long-term investment.

Direct Savings on the Cost of New Teeth Implants

• In Most Cases, No Bone Grafting Necessary

One of the key features of the “All-on-4TM” is that it typically avoids the need for bone grafting surgery, even in cases of advanced jawbone atrophy and shrinkage. Bone grafting is not only an invasive and painful procedure for patients to endure, it’s also exceptionally costly. Avoiding it enables patients to save all the associated expenses as well as the time they would otherwise be spending in recovery and healing.

Indirect Savings on the Cost of New Teeth Implants

In addition to the tens of thousands of dollars patients are saved on having new teeth placed with the “All-on-4TM” protocol, this ingenious technique also indirectly saves patients a lot of money in the long term:

• Forget repeat expenses, such as adhesives, anesthetic gels, soaking solutions and other denture products. The “All-on-4TM” is the closest thing to having a complete set of natural teeth patients can get!
• No need for periodic refittings. “All-on-4TM” dental implants help to keep the underlying jawbone stimulated and alive, which aids in preventing atrophy of the hard tissue. This, in turn, eliminates the need to have the bridge redone every few years or so in order to fit the smaller shape of the jawbone.
• Forget taking all those weeks off from work! The “All-on-4TM” can be completed in a single day and, in most cases, patients return to work within three or so days. Remember, time is money and this protocol saves patients weeks and even months of it!

The “All-on-4TM” is typically a one-time procedure that provides patients with new teeth that are fixed, non-removable and natural appearing. While the dollar value of the benefits this protocol offers patients can be calculated, it also comes with a myriad intangible benefits. How can you put a price tag on excellent quality of life? You simply can’t.

A Final Note on the “All-on-4TM”

For countless reasons, undergoing the “All-on-4TM” is by far the more beneficial option for edentulous and near-edentulous patients, owing to the superior functionality, aesthetics, comfort and longevity of dental implants. Unfortunately, however, some patients only see the difference in initial cost between removable dentures and dental implants, rather than all the incredible features they’ll be benefitting from, and so they miss out.

If you have lost most or all of your original adult teeth, make sure you opt for the best and most sophisticated teeth replacement option available so that you can reap the benefits in both the short and long term. Remember, the “All-on-4TM” saves money on new teeth implants cost!

New Teeth Implants Cost: The Direct and Indirect Savings Made Possible by the “All-on-4TM” Protocol, PART 1

This two-part article series provides detailed insight into how the “All-on-4” dental implant technique saves patients tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of getting new and non-removable teeth placed.

When it comes to investigating your teeth replacement options, new teeth cost is typically a primary concern. You know it’s not going to be cheap, but you’d still rather shop around for the best possible deal. There are two options available for patients who have lost or are on the verge of losing all of their original adult teeth. You can either have removable dentures fitted, or you can have all your old and failing teeth removed and a fixed (non-removable) set of implant-supported teeth placed.

In the past, many patients opted for removable dentures simply because traditional implant techniques were so incredibly expensive. Today, however, the innovation of a new and revolutionary teeth replacement technique - the “All-on-4TM” - has completely changed the choice patients have. In this two-part article series, we shall be taking an in-depth look at the many direct and indirect ways the “All-on-4TM” can save patients tens of thousands of dollars on the cost of new teeth.

Direct Savings on the Cost of New Teeth Implants

• Fewer Dental Implants Needed

Dental implants can often cost a few thousand dollars each, so the fewer you need to have placed the better! Traditional dental implant techniques for the treatment of edentulous (toothless) and near-edentulous patients would require six, eight or even ten implants per jaw to provide them with a complete set of new and non-removable teeth. If you were to undergo complete oral rehabilitation of both jaws, therefore, you could be facing the need to cover the cost of as many as 20 dental implants. That’s already a shocking expense and you haven’t even received your surgical bills yet!

As the name suggests, the “All-on-4TM” only requires four strategically placed dental implants per jaw and eight in total for those having both their upper and lower dental arches replaced. This is as opposed to 20! This saves patients tens of thousands of dollars on the implant materials necessary to give them new teeth.

• Fewer Placement Surgeries

With so many dental implants being placed, specialists were often forced to break down a patient’s journey to oral rehabilitation into smaller, more manageable surgeries. Placing 20 implants in a single sitting would not only be incredibly traumatic to the patient, but the risk of post-operative infection and implant failure would be much greater. Additionally, there is rarely ever enough bone volume to place that many implants, and so bone grafting became a necessary part of the treatment. Traditional techniques would therefore require multiple surgeries that would be spread out over the course of 12 to 18 months. And surgery, as we all know, is never inexpensive, so the bills add would up tremendously!

The “All-on-4TM”, on the other hand, only requires four highly specialized dental implants to be placed and this can quite easily be done in a single surgery! By offering patients results in a single procedure, patients are saved all the money they would otherwise have had to spend on surgery, anesthesia, consultations and their specialists’ time. Again, this is a sum of money that lies in the tens of thousands of dollars bracket.

Stay Tuned for Part 2

To read more about how the “All-on-4TM” directly and indirectly saves patients on the new teeth implants cost, stay tuned for Part 2 of this article series.