Awarded study explores the connection between periodontal disease and preterm births. For periodontal problems, Dr. Katz’ solution is Periotherapy. Periotherapy has been clinically tested to effectively help promote healthy gum tissue and overall oral health with daily use. It attacks the anaerobic bacteria responsible for many periodontal problems.

CHICAGO–A study titled “Treatment of periodontal disease and the risk of preterm birth” is the 2007 recipient of the American Academy of Periodontology’s Clinical Research Award.

Authors of the research are Bryan S. Michalowicz, James S. Hodges, Anthony J. DiAngelis, Virginia R. Lupo, M. John Novak, James E. Ferguson, William Buchanan, James Bofill, Panos N. Papapanou, Dennis A. Mitchell, Stephen Matseoane, and Pat A. Tschida.

The study appeared in the November 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study examined if periodontal (gum) treatment in pregnant women with periodontitis alters the number and timing of preterm births. The study was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health.

This annual award honors an outstanding published scientific manuscript having direct clinical relevance and application to the practice of periodontics. The manuscript must have appeared in peer-reviewed scientific literature within the prior calendar year. The Clinical Research Award was sponsored by Quintessence Publishing.

Source

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In The Toronto Daily News, we read about how the health of your gums is directly related to the health of your heart. Gum disease is no less serious than other bodily diseases, and should be prevented with purposeful, conscientious oral hygiene. Dr. Katz has created Periotherapy and Hydrofloss for daily gum care.An increasing evidence shows a link between gum disease and heart disease.

A French study, reported just last month at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, has shown that the more severe the periodontal (gum) disease, the more widespread the damage to the arteries.

It’s not yet known how gum disease might trigger heart disease, but there’s a suggestion that bacteria released from infected gums may enter the bloodstream where they activate the immune system causing inflammation and narrowing of the blood vessels.

Bacteria also cause tooth decay. They collect on and between the teeth as dental plaque, and react with sugars in our diet to destroy the tooth enamel. The result: is inflammation, cavities, root canal infection and gum disease.

The role of fluoride in preventing tooth decay is well established – whether that fluoride comes from fluoridated water or from pastes, mouthwashes or gels. Dental fluorosis, mottling or marks on the teeth from excessive fluoride intake, is rare but occasionally occurs in children at the time of the formation of tooth enamel if the children swallow too much fluoride from either pastes or supplementation.

So parents should clean their infants’ teeth with just a soft brush – no toothpaste; and for older children, up to the age of six years, the tooth pastes specially formulated for children (containing a low concentration of fluoride) should be used.

For adult tooth cleaning, I recommend Waterpik Sensonic Professional Toothbrush. It works on advanced, high-speed SONIC plaque removal. It’s softer and gentler than other electronic toothbrushes and buffs the tooth surface and hard-to-reach areas between teeth and the gumline. For more advanced gum problems, there’s Hydrofloss, which works on hydromagnetic techonology to blast away hard to reach plaque.

Gum disease is very common. Generally it can be managed by reasonable attention to oral hygiene; but recurrent or ongoing gum disease may be indicative of a serious underlying cause.

Gingivitis is the name given to inflammation of the gums. Periodontitis is a more severe form of gingivitis when the connective tissue around the teeth is progressively destroyed. Apart from lack of attention to tooth and gum care, other factors which might frequently cause or worsen these conditions are common mouth infections, such as oral thrush, more serious infections (such as HIV) where the immune system is compromised, poorly controlled diabetes, smoking and certain medicines, notably: phenytoin, cyclosporin and the calcium channel blocker blood pressure medicines. Periotherapy is available for those who need gum repair and need to take extra care of their gums on a daily basis.

Medicines are also a major, possibly the most common, cause of dry mouth known medically as xerostomia.

As we get older, all our body secretions are reduced in both quantity and quality. We get dry skin, dry eye and we’re more likely to have dry mouth. When taking a few medicines as well, then dry mouth becomes a strong probability.

Antidepressants are among those most commonly implicated, but the list of possible offenders also includes some non-prescription medicines such as antihistamines (particularly the older, more sedating antihistamines) and the so-called anticholinergic medicines used for stomach cramp. The high dose codeine-containing pain relievers might also be a problem for some people.

There are a number of useful products for the treatment of dry mouth – mouth sprays, mouthwashes, gels and toothpastes. Pharmaceutical Society’s Self Care health information program has a fact card titled Dry Mouth which offers suggestions on how to avoid this condition. Therabreath oral rinse and toothgel oxidize the mouth and prevent dry mouth.

The Mouth Ulcers card is another useful fact card. It explains the likely causes and the possible `cures’. Local trauma is often the reason for a mouth ulcer – maybe from a hard bristle toothbrush, dentures or some other form of orthodontic appliance.

Periotherapy Oral Rinse is especially helpful for people who are experiencing the onset of periodontal disease. When combined with the Periotherapy toothpaste treatment and the Hydrofloss it is extremely effective at halting gum diseases. It attacks the initial production of the Volatile Sulfur Compounds before symptoms get worse, preventing serious gum problems.

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Megan Rauscher explains why the loss of your teeth may predict the loss of your sanity later in life. Lack of proper gum care causes or aggravates unhealthy gums, weakening of teeth, and eventual loss of teeth. Dr. Harold Katz, of course, has a solution. Periotherapy keeps gums healthy and teeth intact.

Don’t lose your teeth, and your mind

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – To keep dementia at bay, take care of your teeth. That seems to be the message of a new study in which researchers found a possible link between tooth loss or having very few teeth — one to nine, to be exact — and the development of dementia later in life.

The research team analyzed dental records and brain function test results accumulated over 12 years for 144 people enrolled in the Nun Study – a long-term study of aging and Alzheimer’s disease among Catholic sisters of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The participants ranged in age from 75 to 98 years.

Among subjects free of dementia at the first cognitive exam, those with no teeth or fewer than nine teeth had a greater than 2-fold increased risk of becoming demented later in life compared with those who had 10 or more teeth, the researchers found.

Roughly one third of subjects with fewer than nine teeth, or no teeth, had dementia at the first cognitive exam.

Dr. Pamela Sparks Stein of the College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, and associates report their findings in The Journal of the American Dental Association.

A number of prior studies have shown that people who suffer from dementia are more likely than their cognitively intact counterparts to have poor oral health, largely due to neglect of oral hygiene.

The current study is one of only a few that asked: Does poor health contribute to the development of dementia? These results suggest it may, although the Kentucky team cautions that it is not clear from the study whether the association is “causal or casual.”

“Common underlying conditions may simultaneously contribute to both tooth loss and dementia,” Stein noted in comments to Reuters Health. In addition to gum disease, early-life nutritional deficiencies, infections or chronic diseases that may result simultaneously in tooth loss and damage to the brain, she explained.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dental Association, October 2007.

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Mary Rose Antonio writes about the basic solutions to bad breath and the many benefits of green tea. Two quick tips — use alcohol-free mouthwash and sugar-free gum. You’ll be well on your way to fresh breath.

Bad breath is truly embarrassing but you don’t have to live with it because there are ways to combat this problem. One great solution is to simply drink green tea everyday before, during, and after a meal. It inhibits the bacteria in your mouth and teeth and the health benefits of drinking green tea surpasses all kinds of mouthwash and breath mints.

Are you embarrassed of your bad breath? Is it annoying you and making you very self-conscious? I bet you can’t wait to get rid of it.

However, you are not alone when it comes to bad breath. 35 to 45 percent of the entire world’s population has chronic bad breath. So, what can you do to be rid of it? Here are 12 ways to fight bad breath:

1. More often than not, bad breath is a sign of gum disease. Get into the habit of practicing good dental hygiene. Brush your teeth well and don’t forget to floss. Also, visit your dentist to get rid of plaque buildup.

2. Don’t forget to clean your tongue as well. Get rid of that whitish coating. Pay more attention to the back of the tongue because that’s where the bacteria that cause bad breath usually reside. Some people have suggested using an inverted spoon to scrape the tongue. However, it is more effective to use a tongue scrapper.

3. Choose your breath mints or chewing gum wisely. Make sure they are sugar-free. Sugar feeds the bacteria that cause bad breath. So your breath may smell nice temporarily but the bad breath will return later and may smell even worse. Choose instead products that have xylitol. It’s a natural sweetener that helps to buffer acidity and reduce the build-up of plaque-causing bacteria. Therabreath gum is sugar-free and uses xylitol.

4. Prevent a dry mouth. Saliva is a great help in washing away food particles and bacteria. To keep your mouth moist, make sure you drink plenty of water. Minimize your intake of coffee, soft drinks and alcohol. Japanese scientists recommend green tea. They say it promotes healing of damaged gums as well as contains antioxidant polyphenols. Dry mouth is also a result of breathing through the mouth. This usually happens when you sleep.

5. Be careful of which mouthwash you use. Those with alcohol content will contribute to a dry mouth. Look instead for mouthwashes with chlorine dioxide. It will directly attack the volatile sulfur compounds responsible for bad breath. Use a mouthwash with green tea on it. Therabreath Oral Rinse is recommended; it does not contain alcohol.

6. It is no secret that garlic, onions and curry spices give you bad breath. However, the effect is only temporary, as eventually, your body will get rid of those foods. However, if you need a quick fix and brushing your teeth doesn’t get rid of the smell, you can try drinking lemonade or suck a lemon wedge sprinkled with salt.

7. Chlorophyll has been recognized as a powerful breath freshener. Get a healthy dose of chlorophyll by chewing on fresh parsley. You can also chew on spirulina tablets or drink chlorophyll rich drinks such as wheat-grass.

8. Herbal remedies include chewing on fennel or anise seeds. You can also make a tea from cloves and use it as a mouthwash. Cloves are said to have antiseptic properties.

9. Do you have milk intolerance? Eliminate dairy products from your diet and see if your bad breath goes away.

10. Restore and maintain your intestinal flora with probiotics. Also, improve the function of your large intestine by eating lots of fiber rich foods.

11. Check for an underlying medical condition such as tonsillitis, diabetes, intestinal disease, lung disease, liver disorder or chronic sinusitis.

12. Drink high quality green tea everyday. It has the ability to destroy and inhibit the growth of bacteria in your mouth and teeth.

(Edited by Abby Copuyoc)

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A character in Grey’s Anatomy in danger of losing her speech tells her friend that she has bad breath, among other things. Food for thought: What would you say to your friends and family if you knew you could probably never speak again? Would you talk of halitosis? Pop a breath mint before you do.

The following is an excerpt from Episode 4.3 (Let the Truth Sting) recap from buddytv.com.

The Chief (James Pickens) has a patient named Connie who has come in to get a tumor removed from her tongue. Unfortunately, the cancer has spread to over 60 percent of her tongue, so Richard and McSteamy () are going to have to do something drastic. Her best bet is for McSteamy to do a micro-vascular free flap, but that would leave her without the ability to talk after the surgery. This is a problem because Connie is very chatty. She has two friends with her who are equally chatty. So, Richard thinks it might be better to do a nerve graft, connecting the nerves from her leg with the nerves on her tongue. It’s an extremely rare and risky procedure and neither the Chief nor McSteamy has ever done it. But they both want to prove that they are not too old to learn new tricks, so they go ahead with it. There’s a chance that Connie still might not be able to speak after the procedure, so George encourages her to tell her friends everything she’s been wanting to tell them but hasn’t had the guts to before she goes under. So, Connie tells one friend that her pants are too tight, and the other that she has bad breath and needs to update her ‘do, and a whole lot of other mean stuff that she’s been holding in.

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In the Statesman Journal, Carol Mclaice Currie writes about the importance of brushing to our canine friends. You wouldn’t want a best friend whose breath stinks, would you? Dr. Katz for Dogs Oral Solution is available. Wash out that dog breath!

October 5, 2007

It’s not like they have to floss, but keeping a pet’s teeth clean is essential to their good health and happiness.

Recent reports by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the American Veterinary Dental Society suggest that many pet parents don’t understand what is required to maintain an animal’s teeth and gums.

According to the AVDS, oral disease is one of the most frequently diagnosed pet health problems. If left untreated, it can lead to more severe woes, yet much of it can be prevented, said the nonprofit.

One of the most commonly ignored symptoms of oral disease is constant bad breath, said veterinarian Stephanie Hazen of The Pet Clinic in Salem.

True, pets lick themselves and eat objects humans wouldn’t even pick up, let alone chew, but those scenarios are cause and effect, said Hazen.

“If a dog or cat has bad breath that won’t go away after brushing, then that pet needs to be seen and assessed by a vet,” Hazen said.

Chronic bad breath, in some cases, she said, can be indicative of fairly serious problems such as liver or renal disease.

Hazen said pet parents brush their own teeth daily, but often leave their animals’ teeth unwashed for years or only brush them on occasion.

She recommends brushing a pet’s teeth every other day because plaque mineralizes to calculus in about two days.

Calculus is the bacterial toxin that can enter the bloodstream and infect vital organs, including the heart lining and its valves.

Another symptom of gum disease is a pink or red line along the gums. That usually indicates more advanced gum disease, but “it’s still treatable,” said Mechelle Gilbert, a certified veterinary technician at The Pet Clinic, who is licensed to anesthetize and clean pets’ teeth.

Other symptoms include animals who go to eat and then back away from their food because of mouth pain and yellow or brown crust near the gum line.

Sitting in front of a table with a drain built into it and observing X-rays taken of a dog’s teeth, Gilbert works to remove mineralized calculus from the mouth of a dog named Sam.

After inserting a catheter in the dog to carry intravenous drugs to the animal, Gilbert uses an ultrasonic cleaner to chisel away at the deposits. She uses a polishing tool to smooth any marks left by the first tool.

She then measures the gum line. If an infection is detected, Gilbert and Hazen will determine its depth, then opt to treat with oral antibiotics or inject an antibiotic gel directly into the gums.

If they find any broken teeth after completing the cleaning, they will advise the owner and discuss extractions.

The X-rays, extractions and antibiotic treatments add to the cost of cleaning, said Hazen. A routine cleaning starts at about $200 depending on whether it’s a cat or dog and its size. But it can rise to $1,000 or more if additional work is required.

That is why Hazen’s office takes an aggressive approach to animal dental care.

She makes it part of the annual checkup, and depending on the breed, reminds pet parents that they need to make regular teeth cleaning a part of animal’s routine.

There are some long-faced breeds such as German shepherds whose short coats don’t accumulate food around the face “who can go forever without having their teeth cleaned by a vet provided their pet parents brush regularly at home and their gums don’t become inflamed,” said Hazen. “With other dogs and cats, if owners start cleaning when they’re puppies and kittens, they can reduce the buildup, but not always prevent it.”

Veterinarian Michael Stewart of Silver Creek Animal Clinic in Silverton said his clients look to him for good advice in pet rearing, so he too advocates brushing a pet’s teeth.

“Dogs and cats have good enamel, and cavities are rare,” Stewart said. “So we mainly fight dirty teeth and gum recession. If we can get our clients to brush their pets’ teeth, then that preventative dental care will have a great effect on their pet’s health.”

Stewart said his approach is one of balanced practicality. He encourages pet owners to brush their pet’s teeth so they can avoid more serious problems such as heart disease. He also warns against raising an obese pet.

“We would like pets not to become unaffordable to the masses. We know that items like dental radiographs every year are not practical for every family, so it’s important to offer information and options, too.”

Hazen also advocates a new tool in the fight against canine plaque — a vaccine.

Having learned about the Porphyromonas vaccine at an AVDS national convention last year, Hazen started offering the shot in November.

She said it has been very successful in her patients, and it has few side effects.

Most of the initial problems were pain at the injection site, so she started offering an anti-inflammatory medication called Rimadyl along with the shot to counter the discomfort.

“It’s been amazing,” she said. “I’ve seen much improvement in the animals I’m seeing back in six months.”

The vaccine has a conditional license while awaiting permanent drug administration approval. But Hazen said if it continues to succeed in animals, it may progress to a vaccine for humans.

She reports results regularly to the vaccine’s manufacturer Pfizer Animal Health.

Hazen said the vaccine is one of the many tools available to pet owners to help their pets lead long and healthy lives.

“We just want to teach them that a pet’s teeth are an important part of their overall health and shouldn’t be ignored. We can’t say it enough,” Hazen said.

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This week’s tip! Watch out for a fresh breath tip from Dr. Katz every week.

Don’t put off going to the dentist. Don’t wait until you feel pain before you go. It is good to have a check-up every six months.

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What is the first thing that you would do if a cop pulls you over and performs a breath test? If you’ve been drinking slightly, the first thought in your head would be to gargle with some mouthwash to mask the alcohol in your breath. Don’t.A common cause of false readings is alcohol-based mouthwash. The Alcohol in mouthwash can actually increase your blood alcohol content (BAC). Listerine mouthwash, for example, is 27% alcohol.

“Incidentally, Listerine mouthwash can cause a false breath-alcohol test result of 0.43% BAC, which is near the level of coma. These effects last as long as 30 minutes to an hour.” (The Prohibition Times, JUNK SCIENCE: GOVERNMENT TESTS FOR DRUNKDRIVING by John Lee)

Research in Wikipedia also confirms this:

“Mouth alcohol can also be created in other ways. Dentures, for example, will trap alcohol. Periodontal disease can also create pockets in the gums which will contain the alcohol for longer periods. And recent use of mouthwash or breath fresheners—possibly to disguise the smell of alcohol when being pulled over by police—contain fairly high levels of alcohol.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer)

Of course, the best way to avoid flunking a breath test is to avoid alcohol entirely. But if you decide to drink moderately enough to be able to drive, and anticipate a breath test, it is a good idea to use non-alcoholic mouthwash. So the next time you go out on a date, you’ll be prepared for literally anything – a kiss, a slow dance, or even a breath test.

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Dr. Katz gives you a friendly bad breath tip. Stay tuned for bad breath tips once a week.

Do not brush your teeth in a hurry. Brushing your teeth two minutes every time will do wonders for your breath.

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Does Dr. Harold Katz have a brother we don’t know about? Dr. Herbert, er, Harold Katz is interviewed by radio host Mike Carruthers of Telegram.com.

Mike Carruthers:

Admit it; you worry about bad breath — so do a lot of people.

Dr. Herbert Katz:

About a third of the population has bad breath severe enough where they seek assistance from their physician, their dentist or a pharmacist.Many people for a number of years thought that bad breath comes from the digestive system, from the stomach — and that’s an unfortunate myth. Almost all bad breath comes from bacteria, which live within the back of the tongue, the throat and tonsil area. These are bacteria you’re suppose to have, but under certain conditions (particularly when your mouth is dry) they start to over-produce what are called volatile sulfur compounds. But, for certain people that concentration is severe enough where someone next to them on a plane or at school can smell that.

M.C.: Ironically, Dr. Katz says that many of the products that are suppose to help the problem actually make it worse.

H.K.: Most commercial mouthwash is full of alcohol. Alcohol makes the mouth very dry — any time your mouth is more dry, your breath will become worse. So, by overdoing mouthwashes you’re actually making your breath worse instead of better.

M.C.: And by the way, blowing into your hand and smelling is a lousy way to test for your own bad breath.

H.K.: It’s a great way to smell your hand but there’s a process in your brain called acclamation where you get used to your own odor. So a simple way to test it is to actually lick the back of your hand and let that dry for a few seconds and then smell that.

Complete interview not available.

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