What You Need To Know about Periodontal Disease and Bleeding Gums!

Regular dental care and proper oral hygiene are necessary to minimize bleeding gums (local inflammation) caused by oral bacteria and plaque. But, local inflammation is only part of the problem when it comes to periodontal disease.  To treat periodontal disease successfully, we must also look at what is called silent inflammation (inflammation throughout the body).  The latest research shows that this silent inflammation comes from underlying nutritional deficiencies that cause a low grade inflammatory condition throughout the body.  If this condition is not treated, it is likely that periodontal disease and bleeding gums will continue. 

Your dental health and overall health depends on reducing your silent inflammation. It is silent inflammation that causes dental disease and is linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, and some cancers. By reducing your silent inflammation, you can decrease your risks of periodontal disease as well as other chronic disease and thereby, improve the quality of your life. 

What is silent inflammation?  To understand silent inflammation you must first understand inflammation.  Inflammation is a normal process that occurs within the body to help protect the body from foreign bodies, toxic substances, and irritants like bacteria, viruses, splinters, plaque, etc.  Short-term, this process is essential to our health.  The problem occurs when inflammation becomes chronic or long-term.  This happens when the body is constantly dealing with foreign bodies, toxic substances, or irritants. Chronic inflammation may not exhibit any outwardly visible signs or symptoms, especially early on, because the inflammation occurs internally, and is “low grade,” but constant.  This is why it is often termed “silent.”  This “silent inflammation” will then start to break down healthy tissues as it constantly tries to rid the body of the irritants.  Gingivitis, periodontal disease, joint pain, and many other chronic diseases are all visible signs of silent inflammation occurring within the body.   Gingivitis and periodontal disease are some of the signs of silent inflammation that we as dentists and hygienists are able to see.

So, what causes silent inflammation or chronic inflammation?  Increased stress, poor nutrition, and a decrease in daily moderate exercise, all increase the overall stress on our bodies’ systems.  All of these conditions lead to an increase in free radicals within our bodies.  These “free radicals” are irritants to the body, and therefore, will increase inflammation.  An increase in free radicals speeds up the aging processes and can contribute to the damage of our organ systems, such as heart, kidneys, pancreas, etc.  Antioxidants are our bodies’ natural defense to free radicals.  Antioxidants neutralize free radicals and reduce their harmful effects on the body. 

Antioxidants are found in our food, specifically, vegetables and fruits. It is recommended that we consume between 9-12 servings/day, with most of the servings being raw and from vegetables.  Unfortunately, the “standard American diet” consists of maybe 1-2 servings of fresh vegetables and fruit/day.  Therefore, the amount of antioxidants in our body to combat free radicals is too small to limit the damage that free radicals can cause. This imbalance of antioxidants to free radicals can lead to excess irritation to the body which causes “silent inflammation”.

Another contributor to silent inflammation is our bodies’ deficiency in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.  Historically, we consumed large amounts of wild fish, a food source that contains a high concentration of long-chain omega 3’s.  However, today’s diet consists of very little fish intake and a high amount of omega 6 fatty acids.  In fact, on average, we consume an 18:1 ratio of omega 6: omega 3 fatty acids.  Omega 6 fatty acids are found mostly in vegetable oils like safflower, corn, cottonseed, and soybean oil.  Omega 6 fatty acids are not “bad,” but our bodies need a 1:1 ratio of omega 6’s to omega 3’s to keep inflammation in check.

Fish, such as wild salmon and tuna, contain a high amount of Omega 3 fatty acids.  Unfortunately, there’s been to so much contamination of our seas that eating these fish regularly may not be the best for us because of the mercury and toxins in the fish themselves.  A good source of omega 3 fatty acids that can and should be ingested daily is fish oil.  A pharmaceutical grade, ultra refined fish oil purifies the fish oil, making it safe for us to ingest daily.  Research has shown that high dose, pharmaceutical grade fish oil significantly reduces silent inflammation. 

We have a nutritional support program to decrease silent inflammation and treat periodontal disease from within the body.  In most cases with this program, we are able to significantly reduce chronic inflammation.  The program is as follows:

1. Increase your antioxidants by significantly increasing your vegetable and fruit intake to 9-12 servings/day, emphasizing vegetables more than fruit and take one of the following nutritionals:

    a. Pharmaden, all natural nutraceuticals, which are specifically designed to treat periodontal inflammation.

    b. Juice Plus, which is 17 raw vegetables and fruits that have been juiced, dehydrated and put in capsule form.  If you cannot get the necessary 9-12 servings of fruit and vegetables then suppletmenting is a must. 

2. Increase your omega 3 fatty acids by taking a pharmaceutical grade, ultra-refined fish oil, which is a natural anti-inflammatory, and therefore, will help decrease the inflammation throughout the body.  You need to take a dosage of between 2.5-5grams of omega 3’s daily to have any significant effect on inflammation.   If you are taking blood thinners, be sure to check with your doctor and have your bleeding time checked.

3. Decrease free radical stress within your body locally by brushing/flossing teeth regularly and getting regular professional teeth cleanings.  Systemically, you can also decrease your free radical stress by eliminating smoking, reducing stress, decreasing your sugar/sugar substitutes and reducing refined carbohydrates like bread and pasta.

Remember, you are responsible for your own health and are the only one who can make these changes.  To start the nutritional support program please let us know and we can get you started.  For more information on how to control inflammation and maintain or restore your health, please attend our next silent inflammation seminar.  Call the office for the next seminar date.