Dr. Alex Shvartsman
631-361-3577
SmithtownSmiles.com
Patients are often surprised when they are told they have an infection in their mouth. The assumption is that all infections hurt, or you should have pain if you have a mouth problem. This cannot be further from the truth. While acute dental abscesses, which are accompanied by swelling and pressure, can cause pain, many mouth infections stay silent for months or years causing bone destruction and seeding virulent bacteria into your blood and increasing the inflammatory load throughout your body.
Long-standing silent infections sap the body’s immune system and resources. If you are battling a serious disease, such as cancer or autoimmune disease, having your body’s healing machinery and resources diverted to combat silent mouth infections may tax your body and perhaps make it less effective in its response.
Common areas of silent mouth infections include gum disease, infected root canals and infected impacted wisdom teeth.
Gum Disease: Studies show that nearly 80 percent of the population has some stage of gum disease. It is called the “silent epidemic” because, for the most part, gum disease does not hurt. Signs that you have active gum disease can be bleeding while flossing or bushing, bad breath, spaces forming between your teeth, loose teeth and tartar on your teeth (check the tongue side of your lower bottom teeth for yellow-brown buildup). However, not seeing these signs does not mean you are in the clear. A thorough dental evaluation is necessary for an accurate diagnosis so that treatment can be formulated for the most effective treatment strategy.
An accurate diagnosis is made after evaluating bone levels on X-rays and measuring the gums around each tooth. Together, the gum mapping and X-rays, along with tooth mobility, bite and tooth position evaluation, form a picture of the true health of your gums and bone supporting your teeth. Unfortunately, according to the American Periodontal Association, only 14 percent of dentists routinely perform this thorough exam. When was the last time your dentist measured the gums around all of your teeth? It should be done at least once a year, as is the standard of care.
Infected Root Canals: Often conventional root canal therapy is not effective in fully removing all the germs from the inside of infected root canals. This leads to many root canal infections to persist or get worse. unfortunately, regular dental X-rays, which are two-dimensional, are not always effective in disclosing infections in the bone around the teeth. This occurs because the third dimension (depth) is compresses and thick bone may wash out the image of the infection. A more diagnostic method is using newly available 3-D X-rays, also called CBCT or cone beam. Finally, dentists can see three-dimensionally inside the jawbone to make a precise diagnosis. We have discovered many “hidden” infections that the patient and his/ her previous dentist were not aware about.
Infected Wisdom Teeth: Wisdom teeth are notorious for two things: not being brushed and flossed well and impaction. Wisdom teeth that have enough room to erupt fully are usually difficult for people to keep clean and are, therefore, prone to gum-disease, already discussed above. Often, they are the only gum diseased teeth in the mouth of patients with good oral hygiene habits. When wisdom teeth are impacted, or partially, a flap of gum remains over the top of the tooth creating the perfect environment where bacteria fester. Occasionally, long-standing infection and inflammation around wisdom teeth can blow up into an acute infection with swelling and pain and puss.
At Long Island Center for Healthier Dentistry, we have invested in the best modern dental technology available in order to help diagnose these hidden dental infections. Our goal is to help our patients achieve full overall health and keep their teeth and have healthy mouths for a lifetime.
For more information, call Dr. Alex Shvartsman at the Long Island Center for Healthier Dentistry at 631-361-3577 or visit SmithtownSmiles.com.
