Gum Disease & Your Overall Health

Gum (Periodontal) Disease – The Bacteria

To many of us, it comes as a surprise that our overall health is often contingent on having healthy gums. The health of our gums is an indicator of overall health, and gum disease can be both the cause of, and a symptom of disease elsewhere in the body. Unfortunately, gum disease is also surprisingly common.

When gums are healthy, they adhere to the teeth tightly, leaving little room for bacteria and other debris. When the teeth are dirty, our gums cannot adhere as well – and when gums are diseased and don’t adhere to the teeth, deep pockets can develop that allow anaerobic bacteria to grow.

These (anaerobic) bacteria are the exact same ones found in heart disease, pancreatic cancer and other diseased bodily organs.

The Link Between Periodontal Disease & Other Organs

There are a number of studies that link gum disease to issues in other organs. While eventually determining (for sure) which others are linked to gum disease is a worthy goal, it makes sense to take preventative action to improve the health of your gums, ensuring that these contiguous problems never occur.

There are many things you can do – and some of them are things you may not have heard of before. In fact, most patients never receive instruction from their dentist on how to brush their gums properly… and while brushing your teeth is important, properly brushing your gums is just as crucial.

How Do I Brush My Gums Properly?

Simply use water or our homemade toothpaste (free recipe on the home page) and a soft brush. Brush into the gums softly, with a circular motion, to remove bacteria from any shallow pockets. After, apply a healthy, fluoride free toothpaste and brush your teeth. Finish the process by using dental floss to get into the gaps between teeth and clean away debris that your toothbrush can’t reach.

Traditional Ways To Prevent Gum Disease

Traditonal dentists often perform a deep scaling procedure to treat gum disease in patients with very deep pockets – pockets between the teeth and gums that measure 5 to 8 millimeters in depth. It’s only a temporary solution, however, and the process usually has to be repeated once or twice a year (if the patient doesn’t take follow up action at home).

Trimming back gums is also a common way to address periodontal disease. This gum surgery can make your mouth very sensitive, but it does get to bacteria, and allow it to cleared away.

Today, however, there are better options. And there are things patients like you can do yourself to avoid having complicated gum surgery and avoid gum disease completely – or clear it up if you already have it.

Using Ozonized Water

An O3 machine adds additional oxygen to the water you use to clean your teeth, and these bacteria hate oxygen because it kills them (anaerobic literally means they live without oxygen). Still, it can be hard to get oxygen to the deepest pockets.

Dr. Vinograd’s method, which has worked for his patients with great success, is to use a waterpik to irrigate the gums with your ozonized water. Using a waterpik can take a little getting used to, but it’s worth the time investment. The ozone machine (can be purchased here) is safe and comfortable to use with water. Use a machine with a Corona discharge, and use it in a well-ventilated area. We recommend one that can handle 1000 mg per hour (means you have a powerful enough machine to ozonize your water in under 15 minutes).

Surprisingly, these machines are less expensive than you might think. While they once cost thousands, they’re now much less — and have successfully reduce patient’s pockets by 2 millimeters or more (which saved thousands in dental bills).

The Ozonizer is available online at http://www.bodypure.com/product-p/ozonizer.htm, and a waterpik can be found at any pharmacy or drug store (just avoid travel models and choose one with a reservoir to hold the water). Set it on the middle pressure level, not high pressure, add your ozonized water, and you’re well on your way to preventing gum disease.

Talk To Your Dentist

Gum disease is serious and needs to be professionally treated. Even if you benefit from using an ozone machine and waterpik for gum disease treatment and prevention, regular dental visits are essential.

A dentist can tell you for sure if bacteria is clearing and pockets are closing, so get regular checkups and professional cleanings twice a year or as often as the dentist recommends.

Be sure you choose a dental professional who takes gum disease seriously. It’s a serious problem – one that interacts with other health issues in serious ways (ways that aren’t even completely understood today).

This much is certain: Gum health is an important aspect to good overall health.

Dr. Vinograd’s Protocol (Lecture to the Gerson Institute)

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