Your mouth. How often do you actually think about it?

Unless you have bad breath, bad teeth, or teeth problems,

most people simply do not think about their mouth.

Your mouth. How often do you actuallythink about it? Unless you have bad breath,bad teeth, or teeth problems, most peoplesimply do not think about their mouth, orfor that matter, their teeth, until your in pain,you have a cavity, you crack them, or loosethem. But you should. When you think about good health, whatcomes to mind? Exercising, doing sometype of cardio, spending time at the gym.Most people naturally think about theirweight, and then they think about othermore common, and popularizedstatistics, such as their bloodpressure, and of course, choles-terol figures. Fitting into the rightclothes, finally being able to slipon those skinny jeans, or button-ing up that suit that has beenhanging in the closet for the pasttwo years, or more, usually isn’t far behind. But for a nation who now takes the time toread nutrition labels standing in the aisles atthe supermarket, with people worryingabout their carbohydrate, sugar and trans-fat intake, most people simply don’t thinkabout dental health. Poor dental health canlead to serious medical problems. Good Health: The Mouth, Body Connection If you compare the amount of time, energy,effort, and even money you spend in “stay-ing fit” then you should think about thetremendous health problems you can avoid,and prevent, by getting a simple dentalcleaning. Let’s face it, no one likes going tothe dentist. But a trip to the dentist’s officecan play a major factor in contributing toyour overall good health, not to mention,ensuring the preservation of your teeth andyour good smile. The scientific community has established

that there is clear, fact-based, connection be-tween what’s happening in your mouth andits association with conditions that may af-fect the rest of your body. When you don’t go for a regular dental

check up, and if you don’t floss every day,your gums will turn red, they becomeswollen, and eventually start to bleed.When this happens it’s known as gingivitis.Gingivitis is an inflammatory process thatstarts in the mouth and then works its wayinto your blood stream. This inflammation

creates plaque in your arteries and is provento contribute to heart disease, high bloodpressure, diabetes and even cancer. If thissounds alarmist, or unusual, it’s not. Gingivitis or inflammation of the gums isthe first stage of debilitating dental health.Left untreated, it progresses to periodontaldisease, meaning the gum tissue loses its at-tachment to the tooth and forms what’scalled a “pocket.” As these pockets increase,the gums become more inflamed, there is agreater bacterium resulting first in bone lossthat eventually leads to tooth loss. The scarypart of this whole process is that it usuallygoes unnoticed and is not associated withpain. Meanwhile your body is continuouslybeing attacked by this inflammation whichhas been linked to heart disease, diabetes,cancer and even low birth weight babies inpregnant women. If you smoke, stop.Smoking multiplies this entire process by a

factor of up to 8 times due to the heat andchemicals released by the cigarette. New Treatments You Probably Never Heard OfIf diagnosed early gum disease can betreated with a procedure called a “Scalingand Root Planning” also known as a deepcleaning. Additionally, there is a littleknown and mostly unused medicationcalled “Arrestin” which is an antibiotic inpowder form that is placed inside the gumsthat will eliminate the bacteria and allow thegum tissue to reattach to the tooth. Your

dentist should alert you tothe latest state-of-the artremedies for preventing,or treating, gum disease.However, it all starts witha simple visit to a dentaloffice to get a regularcheck-up and a cleaning.

The next time you are standing in the aislesreading those nutrition labels figuring outwhat you should or should not eat, and thenext time you are on the treadmill workingon your cardio, sweating your brains outand burning as many calories as possible, re-member that your dental health is part ofstaying fit. After all, it won’t matter howmuch weight you lose, or what you arewearing, if you don’t have any teeth.

About Dr. Vinny: Located on the cusp ofWellington, during a nearly thirty year career,Dr. Vinny has developed a reputation for hisunique holistic approach to proper dental health,as well as for his refined touch as a uniquely tal-ented cosmetic dentist. Visit his website:www.DrVinnyTheDentist.com , or call the officeto arrange for your dental check-up and clean-ing: 561-966-2000; feel free to write Dr. Vinnywith any questions: vdolce25@aol.com

If you compare the amount of time, energy, effort, and even money you spend in “staying fit” then you should

think about the tremendous health problems you

can prevent, by getting a simple dental cleaning.

Mouthing Off:k e e p i n g i t “ c l e a n ” w i t h

22 FLAIR MAGAZINE

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Dr Vinny

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