Bacteria in your Mouth

How Much Bacteria is in Your Mouth?

Bacteria can be found everywhere: on your hands, when you touch a doorknob, at a restaurant, in the bathroom, etc.  We sometimes get so caught up worrying about not touching things that carry bacteria that we forget that more than a large cup of bacteria can be found inside you!



More specifically, at any one time there can be up to 6 million bacteria found in your mouth; your mouth is a huge carries for bacteria.  GROSS!  The presence of bacteria in your mouth can cause bad breath and, more importantly, can eat away at your teeth causing cavities, dental infections, and gingivitis.  Even worse, some mouth bacteria can cause heart disease and kidney disease.

Here at Periodontal Associates, we stress the importance of controlling how much bacteria is in you mouth and not letting it get out of hand.  While we understand that bacteria can always be found in your mouth, and some bacteria is even good for you, it is important to maintain a strict hygiene regimen so that you don't have painful and potentially costly dental issues.   Dr. Ken Versman, Dr. Douglas Heller, and Dr. Eric Beckman  can teach you the proper techniques so that you are knowledgeable.  In addition, it is important to schedule routine dental check-ups with your dentist so that any serious damage can be noticed and prevented. 



Dr. Ken Versman, Dr. Douglas Heller, and Dr. Eric Beckman can help you keep your mouth healthy before bacteria does any serious harm.  To schedule your appointment, do not hesitate to call us at (303) 755-4500, click here for an appointment, or visit our website at www.periodontalhealth.com.

Bad Breath

How to Prevent Bad Breath

Bad breath can be unpleasant and sometimes embarrassing.  The morning, onions, garlic, smoke, and gum disease are all variables that can cause bad breath either momentarily or habitually.  Drs. Versman, Heller & Beckman specialize in treating gum disease which is a huge contributing factor to bad breath, also known as halitosis; however, Periodontal Associates wants to share with you some more common and daily rituals that can help defend against sour oral odors.

An easy edible routine to defend against halitosis can be as simple as eating yogurt daily.  Why yogurt you may ask?  Yogurt contains live active cultures and they defend against foul odor causing compounds like hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs, is a product released by gum disease causing bacteria.  Drs. Versman, Heller, and Beckman suggest eating six ounces of yogurt a day to help fight this problem.  

Green tea is also proven to fight against bad breath.  Periodontal Associates offers a beverage bar in our Aurora office containing green tea as one of the options, and there is no mistake in that. This popular Chinese tea contains antioxidants that also help reduce the amount of bacteria. Not only does this super food help with olfactory offenses, but it can also help reduce the risk of tooth decay and some oral cancers.  

To continue with the theme of eating away bad breath, vegetables contain physical properties that help exfoliate teeth.  Dr. Ken Versman, Dr. Doug Heller, and Dr. Eric Beckman want to remind you that a toothbrush is more effective than scrubbing with veggies, but vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, carrots, and celery naturally remove debris and plaque that can lead to bacteria growth and smelly breath.   

Hydration is a big key in maintaining overall health, but swishing water can dilute the sugar, starch, and acid in the mouth.  This dilution helps reduce plaque, and again, Drs. Versman, Heller, and Beckman love to greet you with cold bottles of water from our beverage station.  

The next important step is flossing.  Periodontal Associates has trained hygienists who specialize in treating gum disease, and one of the most important questions they ask patients is if they are flossing regularly.  Flossing is a frequently forgotten routine, but it is critical to remember as flossing removes bacteria that cause decay.  When bacteria are left to linger in the mouth’s crevices, the gums are more likely to experience periodontal disease and thus, bad breath.  There is no excuse to skip flossing, and if you are in need, stop by our Aurora, CO office to pick some up.  

In between teeth is not the only place that needs a little TLC as the tongue is a central part of maintaining pleasant breath and a clean mouth.  The tongue contains bacteria that can contaminate teeth after brushing and flossing.  Tongues have over 500 different types of bacteria, and bad breath occurs when all of those bad bacteria, food particles, and other things sit on the back of the tongue.

All of the prior suggestions are great ways to help prevent and maintain a healthy mouth.  However, more than 75% of Americans suffer from gum disease, and there is only one way to care for periodontal disease and its consequence of bad breath.  Periodontists like Dr. Versman, Dr. Heller, and Dr. Beckman specialize in treating this silent disease. Periodontal disease is an infection of the gums and bone surrounding your teeth.  Some common signs are persistent bad breath caused by bacteria in the mouth, pus around the teeth and gums (sign that there is an infection present), red and puffy gums, and tenderness or discomfort caused by plaque, calculus, and bacteria irritating the gums and teeth. 

Do any of these signs of gum disease sound familiar? Please do not hesitate to contact Periodontal Associates in Aurora, CO today! We welcome patients from all surrounding Denver metro areas and even some from outside of Colorado.  Our doctors, Dr.Versman, Dr. Heller, and Dr. Beckman, are specially trained and skilled to fight periodontal disease as well as provide dental implants. Please call us at (303) 755-4500 or click here for an appointment.  For more information about Periodontal Associates, please visit our website at www.periodontalhealth.com.  We look forward to helping you with your questions, treating your gum disease, providing your dental implants, or simply curing your bad breath! 

Christmas Cavities

 Christmas Cravings and Cavities

 

Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Kwanzaa from your friends at Periodontal Associates - the dental implant team!  With the Holiday season among us and treats eaten, carols sung, parties thrown, and gifts given, Dr. Versman, Dr. Heller, and Dr. Beckman want to take a look a closer look about what that means.

The end of the year is often a time of over indulgence, and with the constant snacking on sweets, Americans run the risk of increasing cavities and weight gain.  One study suggests that the average American citizen gains 7-10lbs over the holiday season (Thanksgiving to New Year’s).  Now brace yourself, if we estimate that everyone in American gains 9lbs that means the nation would gain 3 BILLION POUNDS!

Don’t worry, there is hope as another study by Yanovsky in 2000 in the New England Journal of Medicine stated the average American gains less than 1lb.  However, this weight is never lost in the upcoming year. Even so, that equates to a gain of almost 315 million pounds that are never lost!  Each kid eats about 6,000 calories on Christmas Day alone, and Dr. Versman, Dr. Heller, and Dr. Beckman fear this is mainly all in sweets.  No wonder The Biggest Loser is planned to air at the beginning on January.

Now let’s think about how this weight gain and the consumption of sweets affect your health, and most importantly, your oral health.  Dr. Versman, Dr. Heller, and Dr. Beckman wants everyone to enjoy themselves and celebrate over the holidays, but they wish to pass along some advice to make sure the next year is not negatively affected by these holiday traditions.

First thing first, sugar! Between the sugar cookies, egg nog, candy canes, and pumpkin pie, sugar can be found everywhere!  Christmas is the 3^rd largest day for candy consumption after Halloween and Easter.  Each household spends and average of $94.04 on holiday candy and the nation spending $1.4 billion.  Americans use an average of 7lbs of sugar over the holidays in baked good, drinks, etc. There are 1.8 billion candy canes are made every year which is enough to travel from Arkansas to the North Pole and back 32 times!

Just writing those statistics almost gives Dr. Versman, Dr. Heller, and Dr. Beckman a heart attack.  Here at Periodontal Associates, our Denver and Aurora clients are not immune to the holiday sugar high, and we want to make sure you are taking care of your teeth and gums to help prevent cavities, gum disease, and the need for dental implants in 2013.  Dr. Versman says, ‘You don’t have to brush your teeth, just the ones you want to keep.’

Yes, brushing is one of the best things you can do, along with flossing, on a regular basis.  Dr. Heller often tells his patients that slowly snacking on sugar is worse than sugar itself as it continuously feeds bacteria in the mouth, and most people only brush once or twice a day.  Think about eating a breakfast cake at work around 9am then letting that sugar sit on your teeth for another 13 hours until brushing before bed!

Go ahead and make a New Year’s resolution with Periodontal Associates - The Dental Implant Team before the New Year begins.  Let us all brush often, floss regularly, graze less, and visit our great doctors (Ken Versman, Doug Heller, and Eric Beckman) along with our specially trained hygienists for bi-annual cleanings and check-ups.  By developing these great habits, Periodontal Associates can help treat and prevent periodontal disease (gum disease), fight bad breath, and give you a cosmetically beautiful smile with or without dental implants.

Periodontal Associates is located in Aurora, CO, but we happily serve patients in Denver, CO and all surrounding areas like Centennial, Parker, Lone Tree, Thorton, etc.  Drs. Versman, Heller, and Beckman are specialists in gum disease, dental implants, gum grafts, bone grafts, sinus lifts, and other dental needs.  Please give us a call at (303) 755-4500 to schedule your dental implant consultation or hygiene cleaning today! To learn a little more about us, please visit our website www.periodontalhealth.com or visit us on Facebook www.facebook.com/periodontalhealth. We look forward to getting to know you and helping you keep your New Year’s resolution for a healthier smile!