This is a good article recently published in the Washington Post. Glad to see they recommend that maintaining your dental health is a top priority during the pandemic.
Tiny robots to clean your teeth sounds a little far-fetched, and certainly would need a lot of refining, but it definitely has some interesting applications if it works. In the meantime, keep on brushing and flossing!
As more research is done into the cause and effect of periodontal disease, scientists are identifying more and more non-oral implications that perio disease can have for our overall health. This article was recently published, identifying a likely link to Alzheimer’s Disease:
Periodontitis May Initiate Alzheimer’s Disease
04 Oct 2018 Dentistry Today Industry News
Long-term exposure to Porphyromonas gingivalis causes inflammation and degeneration of brain neurons in mice that is similar to the effects of Alzheimer’s disease in human beings, according to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). These findings suggest that periodontal disease may be an initiator of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers there report.
“Other studies have demonstrated a close association between periodontitis and cognitive impairment, but this is the first study to show that exposure to the periodontal bacteria results in the formation of senile plaques that accelerate the development of neuropathology found in Alzheimer’s patients,” said Keiko Watanabe, DDS, professor of periodontics at the UIC College of Dentistry and corresponding author of the study. “This was a big surprise,” Watanabe said. “We did not expect that the periodontal pathogen would have this much influence on the brain or that the effects would so thoroughly resemble Alzheimer’s disease.”
To study the impact of the bacteria on brain health, the researchers established chronic periodontitis in 10 wild-type mice. Another 10 mice served as the control group. After 22 weeks of repeated oral application of the bacteria to the study group, the researchers studied the brain tissue of the mice and compared brain health.
The mice chronically exposed to the bacteria had significantly higher amounts of accumulated amyloid beta, a senile plaque found in the brain tissue of Alzheimer’s patients. The study group also had more brain inflammation and fewer intact neurons due to degeneration.
These findings were further supported by amyloid beta protein analysis and RNA analysis that showed greater expression of genes associated with inflammation and degeneration in the study group. DNA from the periodontal bacteria was also found in the brain tissue of mice in the study group, and a bacterial protein was observed inside their neurons.“Our data not only demonstrate the movement of bacteria from the mouth to the brain, but also that chronic infection leads to neural effects similar to Alzheimer’s,” Watanabe said.
The researchers say these findings are powerful in part because they used a wild-type mouse model. Most model systems used to study Alzheimer’s rely on transgenic mice, which have been genetically altered to more strongly express genes associated with the senile plaque and enable Alzheimer’s development.
“Using a wild-type mouse model added strength to our study because these mice were not primed to develop the disease, and use of this model gives additional weight to our findings that periodontal bacteria may kickstart the development of the Alzheimer’s,” Watanabe said.
The researchers say that understanding causality and risk factors for the development of Alzheimer’s is critical to the development of treatments, particularly when it comes to sporadic or late-onset disease, which constitutes more than 95% of cases and has largely unknown causes and mechanisms.
Watanabe also said the findings offer lessons for everyone. “Oral hygiene is an important predictor of disease, including diseases that happen outside the mouth,” she said. “People can do so much more for their personal health by taking oral health seriously.”
The study, “Chronic Oral Application of a Periodontal Pathogen Results in Brain Inflammation, Neurodegeneration and Amyloid Beta Production in Wild Type Mice,” was published by PLOS One.
I came across this article today which outlines some unusual places that people floss their teeth. I’ve witnessed a couple of these, like the times I’ve seen people sitting in rush hour traffic on 66 or the Beltway, merrily flossing away. Hey, as far as I’m concerned, whatever you have to do to get your daily flossing in, works for me!
Here at the office, our patients often ask the question: “How often should I replace my toothbrush?” Although there are several factors that can go into the answer, this article provides good oversight on what goes into the answer. Bottom line, the answer for most people is every three months. Replacement is especially important if you have an electric toothbrush!
Since roughly the turn of the century, or a little before, most dentists that I know adopted the use of newer composite resin materials for tooth restorations — AKA “fillings.” We can attribute this to several reasons, not the least of which is that resins do not contain mercury. Personally, I have not placed a silver amalgam restoration in at least 20 years. I am surprised to see that there are still dentists that place them in this country. I agree with the EU that dental amalgam should be phased out, since the restorative materials we have available today are in so many ways better than the amalgams.
Here is the link to the story:
US News and World Report puts out an annual list rating various professions, and dentistry is usually near the top of that list. The just-released list for 2018 rates dentistry as the top profession in healthcare in the US. I have to say that I totally agree with the assessment. If interested, please take the time to click on the link below:
Given that the winter weather season is upon us, I think this is a great time to state our policy regarding office closing:
It is the policy of our practice to continue operations whenever possible. However, team member and patient safety are our primary concern.
In the event of inclement weather on a day when you have a scheduled appointment, please call our office ahead of time and we will advise you of our hours of operation that day. In the event of extreme weather, if we close the office, we will have a recording on our answering machine at least one hour prior to our regular hours advising our patients of our closing. We will then call you at our earliest possible opportunity to reschedule your appointment.
We thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.
My patients often ask me why we have wisdom teeth since they usually need to be removed. The answer is, they are vestigial organs — things that we still have from our ancestors that we no longer need or use. As we evolved, our jaws have shortened and therefore most of us no longer have the room for these teeth. Some of us — the lucky ones — don’t even develop wisdom teeth any more.
This article is an interesting one about wisdom teeth and other vestigial organs:
The tongue is truly fascinating. Not only is it mainly made of muscle (see link below), it is one of the most sensitive parts of our body, with it’s main sensory functions being taste and touch.
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