Periodontal (gum) disease is one of the dominant causes of tooth loss and edentulism, the state of not having a single original adult tooth left. In spite of our sophisticated technology and increased awareness of oral health and hygiene, gum disease remains pervasive in the United States, affecting, in some form or stage, an estimated 80% of the population.
“Periodontal disease is an advanced oral bacterial infection of the soft tissue (gums) and sockets (jaw bone) surrounding the roots of teeth,” explains Dr. Steven Moss, All-on-4TM dental implant expert and Board Certified Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon. “This infection penetrates deep down into the gums surrounding the teeth where it’s very difficult for patients to clean, often necessitating surgical intervention.”
Left untreated, periodontal disease causes all sorts of terrible symptoms, ranging from bad breath and gum inflammation to oral lesions and tooth discoloration. But, gum disease is most noted for causing tooth loss and edentulism, the latter of which approximately 38 million Americans currently suffer from.
The 9 Risk Factors for Gum Disease
But as terrible as this disease is, it is preventable and treatable. According to research published in the Journal of Periodontology avoiding this common cause of tooth loss is quite reasonably within the individual’s control. There are, according to dental healthcare specialists, nine risk factors for tooth loss as a result of periodontitis and they are:
- Age: Individuals older than 35 are at risk,
- Gender: Males are more prone to periodontitis than females,
- Never seeing the dentist or oral hygienist,
- Never brushing your teeth or flossing,
- Tobacco-use, whether it’s chewing or smoking and past or present,
- Having diabetes,
- Being a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer,
- Having high blood pressure,
- Missing teeth at the front of the mouth*
* According to the research published, the teeth located at the front of the mouth are far more likely to be lost to periodontal disease than the molars and pre-molars.
What Can You Do?
Clearly, some of these risk factors cannot be avoided. There’s nothing you can do about your age or gender and some of the conditions that share a relationship with gum disease can be hereditary. What you can do is avoid the other risk factors and, if you are at a relatively higher risk of gum disease – if, for example, you’re an older male with diabetes – you can take the additional measures necessary to maintain good oral health.
“By brushing your teeth regularly and thoroughly, by flossing daily and seeing your dentist and oral hygienist on a regular basis, you should be able to prevent gum disease,” say All-on-4TM dental implant specialists. “Couple good oral hygiene with good eating habits and a healthy lifestyle and there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to keep most if not all of your natural teeth for life!”
Dr. Paulo Malo, pioneer of “All-on-4” dental implants and President of the MALO CLINICS Group (Lisbon, Portugal), discusses the key benefits of this oral rehabilitation technique with Dr. Steven Moss, an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon from MALO Advanced Oral Rehabilitation in Rutherford, New Jersey on the television talk show, YOUR HOUR.
(MaloDentalImplants.com/Newswire — March 9, 2013) New York City, NY — 
In our previous article post, we provided an introduction to this four-part series on preventing tooth loss and the subsequent need for Bronx dental implants. We also discussed the first two tips for maintaining a beautiful and healthy lifelong smile: (1) twice daily and thorough brushing and (2) daily flossing. Together these tips comprise a home oral hygiene routine that should keep bacterial activity in your mouth to a minimum, thus preventing the development of infection, decay and disease that can cause tooth loss, necessitating the placement of 
Thought you had a penchant for sweet treats? There is one other organism that covets the sugar smothering your tea-time Danish more than you, and they can cause you to require Bronx dental implants… bacteria! Every time you eat or drink something sweet, the amount of bacteria covering your teeth and gums sky-rockets. This is because these tiny micro-organisms use sugar to fuel their multiplication. While most of the bacteria in your mouth are relatively harmless and won’t make you sick, their acidic excretions do erode away at the protective outer layer of your teeth, the enamel. Over time, this erosion can expose the softer underlying dentine and even the pulp chamber within the tooth structure. Bacteria swarm into these tiny cavities where they can escape the bristles of your toothbrush. The body adopts an inflammatory response to this occupation and the subsequent infection of a tooth can lead to its demise if not treated effectively and in a timely manner. The moral of this story is not only to minimize the amount of sugary foods and drinks you consume in a day if you want to avoid the need for Bronx dental implants, but also the frequency at which you consume them. And this can be done most effectively by opting for mineral water instead of those sugary and acidic sodas, fruit juices and energy drinks.
Your teeth may be covered with the hardest substance in the human body, enamel, but that doesn’t mean you should be using them for rough tasks, such as prying open containers or crushing ice. These kinds of habits can cause physical damage to your teeth, which in turn provide bacteria with points of entry into the tooth structure. Avoiding the need for Bronx dental implants means using your teeth only for the functions they are intended: chewing food.
We begin this series on Bridgeport dental implants with perhaps the most obvious point in maintaining a high standard of oral health and hygiene. While you may be aware of the importance of twice-daily brushing, most people just aren’t doing it correctly! You should be brushing at least twice a day (morning and night) for two minutes at a time, dedicating 30 seconds per quadrant of the mouth. You should also brush your tongue. Its rough surface offers a perfect home for bacteria, which, 8 times out of 10, is the cause of bad breath. If you really want to avoid tooth loss and the need for Bridgeport dental implants, you should actually brush your teeth 30 minutes after eating or drinking anything. Oral bacteria are incredibly opportunistic and their numbers soar after every meal. Waiting 30 minutes after a meal allows the PH levels in your mouth to return to normal and your teeth a chance to remineralize. This prevents the erosion of the dental enamel in the long term.
Flossing is perhaps the most neglected of all our hygiene practices. Most people see it as an ‘additional’ or ‘extra’ to brushing, when in fact, it is just as important! Your toothbrush cannot reach between your teeth to eliminate the plaque (soft, sticky deposits of bacteria) and food that accumulate there throughout the day. Simply leaving it allows bacteria to gain a foothold in the mouth that puts your oral health at a greater risk of infection (in the short term) and disease (in the long term). Avoiding the need for Bridgeport 
