Gum Disease and Heart Health

Tips for American Heart Month from ChicagoHealer.com

by Dr. Kevin Boehm DDS

Because February is American Heart Health month, ChicagoHealer.com practitioner Dr.
Boehm, DDS explains the connection between gum disease and heart health and
offers tips for gum health that will keep heart problems at bay.

Brushing and flossing is not just about teeth and gums anymore.  It’s about
raising awareness of the potential for bacterial penetration of our vascular
system. Gum disease is caused by a number of things.  There are always
bacteria present in the mouth with the potential to create the gum disease
state, but how the body reacts to their presence may be the most important
thing.

If gum disease is left unchecked, the invading bacteria and their toxic
by-products have access to anywhere they would like to go within our body
through our blood delivery system. If this happens there can be lethal
effects on muscle, lymphatic, heart, brain and every other differentiated
human cell type.  Turning this potent killer loose on your heart or brain
tissue can certainly cause havoc and lead to scar tissue formation,
arteriosclerosis, and hypertension over time.  This puts added burden on the
kidneys and the heart muscle itself.  Over a couple decades if the vascular
damage cannot be corrected, renal failure, stroke, heart attack, and quite
possibly death can be the result. To prevent such a catastrophic result on
the vascular system, Dr. Boehm offers the following tips for preventing gum
disease.

* On the hygiene front, brush 2-3 minutes at least twice daily, and
preferably with an electric toothbrush (Oral-B, Sonicare, Rotodent, Crest,
etc.)
* Floss daily going lightly in an up/down direction making sure to get
under the gum line to break up the anaerobes where they love to hide. For
gum disease sufferers, a waterpik on low pressure can be a great thing to
flush out problem areas and place medicaments where they can be of best
benefit.
* See your dentist at least twice annually.
* Eat a diet of as much organic whole, raw vegetables, fruits, nuts, and
seeds with small amounts of meat, fish, and poultry, and limit processed
foods.
* If supplements are needed, and often times are, try these for starters:
vitamin C, vitamin E, and CoQ10 are all powerful anti-oxidants that are very
useful in our cardiovascular system and in gingival tissue, either diseased
or healthy.

For more information, please visit www.ChicagoHealers.com.