Deep Cleanings

If you're one of the millions of Americans with Periodontal Disease, there is a good chance you have either been offered or received a deep cleaning. You may also still be unclear on what this procedure can accomplish and why we do it. In this article, we hope to remove the mystery from this very beneficial treatment. 

For starters, periodontal disease refers to a state of gum health where the moucosal tissues and/or bone have shrunken away from the teeth. In most cases, this is due to accumulation of hard tartar around the necks of the teeth and down the roots. Patients are left with deep gum pockets that serve as protective space for more tartar to form. 

Healthy gum pockets range between 1-4 millimeters. With a toothbrush and floss, you can reliably clean to about three millimeters of depth. Beyond this, it takes a special set of skills and tools to get the teeth completely clean. If you have healthy gums or inflammation of the moucosal tissues only (gingivitis), a typical "prophy" dental cleaning will serve you well. However, generalized pockets of five millimeters or more will require a deep cleaning, also known as scaling and root planing. 

A quick infographic explaining the transition from healthy gums to disease. An important note- healthy gums can naturally have a pocket of 1-4mm. 

Scaling and root planing is a procedure that is administered to one quadrant of the mouth at a time, as opposed to the "whole mouth" approach of a normal cleaning. You may only have one or two quadrants of teeth that actually require a deep cleaning. To effectively provide this service, we need to numb your gums with some type of anesthesia. This may be in the form of a topical jelly or a traditional injection. We then use a combination of ultrasonic scalers and hand instruments to clean the teeth to the depths of their pockets, removing hard deposits and smoothing the tooth root surface. The ultimate goal of this treatment is to leave behind a healthy, bacteria-free root for new tissue to attach, thus creating a shallower pocket. 

Deep cleanings are ideally only administered once and followed with a tight recall cleaning schedule. However, this depends largely on you body's ability to heal and your own home hygiene practices. It is also important to understand the limitations of a deep cleaning. While you may have a decrease in pocket depth, new bone is impossible to reform without surgery. Additionally, no amount of cleaning will save teeth with severe periodontal damage. To fully appreciate what a deep cleaning can do for your mouth, a complete dental exam with x-rays is absolutely necessary. To schedule an appointment or find out more about the different types of dental cleanings, please give our office a call!

Dentistry and Diabetes

Across the United States, about 30 Million people suffer from type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Chances are a friend, a family member or even you yourself are affected by this condition. Most patients are familiar with the general process of diabetes: your body either doesn't make enough insulin or responds to insulin improperly, leading to high amounts of sugar in the blood (known as high blood glucose). However, diabetes has global effects on all parts of the body, ranging from the heart, muscles, limbs and even the mouth. In this article we would like to explore the relationship between diabetes and dentistry. Take a look!

As you may have expected, poorly controlled diabetes has a negative effect on your teeth and gum. On the very surface, the root cause of type 2 diabetes (over consumption of sugar) is the same as dental decay. However, while diabetes comes from the quantity of sugar, cavities are caused by the duration of consumption. Diabetes also has a significant effect on the health of the gums and bones. Periodontal disease is typically worse in patients with diabetes, and has a poorer response to cleanings. Additionally, all types of surgeries (gum grafts, implants, sinus lifts, etc.) take longer to heal and have a higher chance of failure. The high concentration of blood glucose decreases the bodies ability to self-heal, and thus interferes with the procedure's success. 

In an interesting turn, new research suggests that controlling periodontal disease has a positive effect on managing blood glucose in diabetics. It is though that by removing the chronic inflammation from your gum tissues, your body can better regulate it's response to inulin. This has had a profound effect on the management of diabetes and highlights the interplay between your mouth and your overall health. Some insurance companies, like Blue Cross Blue Shield, are now offering coverage for an additional yearly cleaning to their patients with diabetes. For them, better gum health results in better diabetes control and lower costs. For you, it means an easier path towards a healthy blood sugar level!

Of course, diabetes is only one of many conditions that has a delicate interplay with dentistry. Pregnancy, smoking, cancer treatment, HIV/AIDS and even stress can effect your dental treatment and how your body will respond. This highlights the importance of keeping us updated on all aspects of your health history- even the parts that seem irrelevant. If you would like to know more about the importance of dentistry in overall health, please contact our office!

Changes to Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield's Policies

The healthcare community has long understood the importance of oral health in relationship to systemic diseases and biological changes. We now know that severe gum disease (periodontitis) plays hand in hand with many conditions, putting patients at higher risks and making them harder to treat.

Recently, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has updated their dental insurance plans to better reflect current understandings on periodontitis and systemic health. As of now, their diabetic and pregnant patients qualify for three cleanings a year, as opposed to the normal two. To be eligible for the extra covered yearly cleaning, you must be actively enrolled in one of their diabetes or maternal healthcare management programs. Their system will then automatically update your profile so that you qualify for the extra cleaning. 

In the case of diabetes, research suggests that gum disease can make blood glucose levels harder to manage. Likewise, the delayed healing process brought on by diabetes allows periodontal disease to progress rapidly. For pregnancy, periodontal disease has been associated with low birthweight babies and premature delivery. In both instances, an extra preventative appointment could have a big outcome on your quality of life. 

As a reminder, this only applies to cleanings covered by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. If you subscribe to another insurance company or do not qualify for this benefit, you can still utilize a third cleaning out-of-pocket. While our office is highlighting this change to Anthem's policies, we do not endorse one insurance plan over any others. If you would like to know more about dental insurance or your specific plan, please give our office a call. We have years of experience with a number of insurance providers and can assuredly help you!