Acid Reflux and Teeth

Preventive dental care usually focuses on oral hygiene, but tooth decay isn’t the only threat to tooth structure. At Elite Dental Arts in Midtown, we want our patients to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and diet that will protect their teeth from acid reflux.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) refers to chronic, recurring acid reflux. Commonly but inaccurately known as heartburn, acid reflux happens when the sphincter separating the stomach from the esophagus opens at the wrong time. Stomach acid travels upward, burning the esophagus as it goes, and it sometimes gets as far as the oral cavity. When that happens, it erodes enamel, beginning with the inward-facing sides of the upper back teeth. As enamel loses minerals, it takes on a chalky appearance and the teeth become more sensitive.

Acid reflux can have many causes, but there are steps patients can take to prevent it. Those include not smoking, avoiding large meals before lying down, and avoiding large quantities of food such as red meat, spices, citric juice, tomatoes, garlic, and onions, as well as avoiding caffeine and alcohol. Patients should also take care that they eat in an upright posture and that they drink plenty of fluids, since adequate saliva production is one of the body’s best defenses against acid reflux.

Nick M. Mobilia, DDS
ELITE DENTAL ARTS
9 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

Gum Disease and Cirrhosis

We offer comprehensive treatment at Elite Dental Arts in Midtown, including restorations for people who have been impacted by gum disease. More evidence is emerging of how closely gum disease is tied to other conditions, establishing a possibility that periodontal treatments could benefit a patient in unexpected ways. One of the new areas of research is into a connection between gum disease and cirrhosis.

The liver filters toxins out of the blood. But it can become inflamed, and when long-term inflammation results in scarring, the patient develops cirrhosis. People with cirrhosis suffer from inflammation throughout their bodies, including in their brains, with cognitive fog and mood swings resulting. Gum disease is also unusually common in people with cirrhosis. Scientists had thought this was because both can be caused by smoking and alcohol use, but gum disease is also common in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which isn’t directly related to either.

An experiment at Virginia Commonwealth University split patients with both diseases into groups to determine how they would respond to gum treatment. They found that after periodontal therapy, cirrhosis patients had significant cognitive improvements and higher counts of anti-inflammatory gut bacteria than untreated patients. We’re excited to see more research into the importance of fighting oral bacteria, and we want people suffering from gum disease to know how much treatment could help them.

Nick M. Mobilia, DDS
ELITE DENTAL ARTS
9 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

Diabetes and Gum Disease

Bleeding gums are not healthy. If you have them, we want you to come to Elite Dental Arts in Midtown for help. Gingivitis is unfortunately common, but there is one group that is at particular risk: people with diabetes. In people with high blood sugar, not only do infections last longer, the infections further exacerbate their difficulty controlling glucose.

Gingivitis, or gum inflammation, is the immune system’s initial response to infection.  It isolates the disease-causing agents and floods the area with white blood cells. This process weakens the walls of the gum tissue cells and can be harmful if the inflammation becomes chronic. For reasons that are not entirely clear but are probably related to hardened blood vessels, people with high blood sugar are prone to more inflammation and have a harder time resisting infections. When gum infections reach an advanced stage, called periodontal disease, they may cause recession of gum and bone tissue, allowing the teeth to come loose.

People with diabetes have to be especially careful about their oral hygiene. Fortunately, during regular dental visits, we can provide deep cleanings in the gum pockets, where patients cannot reach. Studies have shown that people with periodontal infections suffer increased glucose levels, but that when gum disease is treated, people’s diabetes symptoms improve.

Nick M. Mobilia, DDS
ELITE DENTAL ARTS
9 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017