Scott Logan, DDS
Diabetes and Dental Health
Our guest speaker, Dr. Scott Logan, D.D.S., spoke on diabetes and oral health. Dr. Logan discussed the various systemic types of problems experienced by diabetics. An important one that is very rampant in diabetics is gum disease because you don't know you have it until it's in an advanced stage. This is because it doesn't give you problems or pain until the end of the disease.
Gum disease is started when bacteria gets down deep between the teeth and gums and is hard to brush. A diabetic with uncontrolled glucose levels has a playground for bacteria which feeds off the sugars. The gums become inflamed and the bacteria flourishes in the low oxygen, well fed breeding ground between the gum and teeth. You really won't notice until it is so uncomfortable from swelling and pain, but the invasion of your tissues has already begun!
Some typical symptoms are: (not everyone experiences all of the symptoms)
1. Burning mouth syndrome.
2. dry mouth. This means you are absent of saliva that is the natural teeth and gum cleaner, or plaque killer. This makes you more prone to tooth decay. If your sugars are high, the plaque lives off the sugar and the healing process is hindered.
3. Fungal infections. Everyone has fungus n their mouthes, but it is controlled by their saliva. Remember the childhood disease children would get after taking a cillin of some sort? Thrush. it is easy to treat, uncomfortable, and usually comes back.
4. Lycan Planus. This is a white web-like film on the flesh inside your mouth. It is not painful, but is erosive and can progress into huge painful ulcers that are hard to treat.
5. Lowered taste sensation to sweets. This is bad because it causes you to eat more sweets in order to even taste them.
Dr. Logan made a startling statement: "Gum disease equals tooth loss" plain and simple. A normal person can clamp their together with the force of 150-200 lbs per square inch of tooth bite. A person with dentures can clamp their teeth together with the force of 15 lbs per square inch of tooth bite. Surprising, right? You can't eat well if you can't chew!
Dr. Logan discussed an 11 year study that was done on the Pima Indians. This study revealed that 60% of the over 600 Pima Indians were type 2 diabetics. Of these, the ones with mild to no gum disease had a 3 in 1,000 death rate; those with moderate gum disease had a 19 in 1,000 death rate; and those with advanced gum disease had a 29 in 1,000 death rate.
Dr Logan stated that if you have gum disease, you have a high chance of having heart disease, low birth rate, and other problems. The problem is you have bacteria inflaming your gums, they bleed, the bacteria gets in your blood stream and ravages other organs. Dr Logan told a sad story of a woman who had a still born baby. The autopsy revealed that the bacteria that killed the baby was from the mother's bloodstream but not from vaginal bacteria or colon bacteria, it was the same bacteria that was in her gums. So in essence, her gum disease caused her to lose her child. So sad.....
Diabetics have 3 times the chances of getting gum disease, 15 times the chances of having tooth loss, and if you smoke, you have 20 times the chance of having gum disease. An estimated 20 million people have gum disease, and 1/3 of them don't even know it....
Dr. Logan didn't barge into our meeting flinging scary statistics, he is a gentle man who presented the facts in a way that even the children in the room listened and understood.
He explained that your mouth doesn't have to go to pot. You can help control it with good nutrition, exercise, and, yes, regular visits to the dentist. If you keep your blood glucose under control by self-checking and eating and/or taking your insulin accordingly this will help tremendously. He said being diabetic doesn't mean you will have gum disease, it just means you must take extra care of your teeth and gums.
In caring for your teeth, Dr. Logan says first you must scrub the chewing surface (top) of your teeth really hard with a soft, not hard, toothbrush. Then at a 45% angle brush in circles on the top up and the bottom down, on the inside and outside of the teeth. On the back of the front teeth, pull up and down. And an important factor, don't forget your tongue, it is loaded with junk! He says you should spend 2-3 minutes on your teeth, but most people average about 20 seconds! Oh my!
Scary thought... 20 minutes after you clean, the bacteria is there. 24 hours after, the plaque is back! This is why brushing at night is the most important time to brush. When you sleep your salivary flow shuts down and plaque has a heyday on food left on your teeth! Eeuuuwww!
When choosing a mouthwash, always try for one that has no alcohol because it dries the mouth out and you get back in the 'heyday' situation. even though Listerine has some alcohol, it is ok because it has lots of other 'good stuff' in it.
You should change your toothbrush every 3 months or when you get sick. But, Dr Logan also suggested cleaning your toothbrush regularly with .... the dishwasher! Yes! The water flow gets your toothbrush it's cleanest.
Flossing is critically important. Create a 'C' with the floss and run it up and down each tooth on each side to catch every spot. Dr. Logan says it's more important to floss than anything else. He says if you were on a deserted island and had a choice of a toothbrush or floss, you should choose the floss! Wow!
Dr Logan was a very interesting guest and we hope to have him back very soon. He says next time, he will bring some pictures for the projector and show us some really gorey gross pictures.... I can't wait, how about you?
Gum disease is started when bacteria gets down deep between the teeth and gums and is hard to brush. A diabetic with uncontrolled glucose levels has a playground for bacteria which feeds off the sugars. The gums become inflamed and the bacteria flourishes in the low oxygen, well fed breeding ground between the gum and teeth. You really won't notice until it is so uncomfortable from swelling and pain, but the invasion of your tissues has already begun!
Some typical symptoms are: (not everyone experiences all of the symptoms)
1. Burning mouth syndrome.
2. dry mouth. This means you are absent of saliva that is the natural teeth and gum cleaner, or plaque killer. This makes you more prone to tooth decay. If your sugars are high, the plaque lives off the sugar and the healing process is hindered.
3. Fungal infections. Everyone has fungus n their mouthes, but it is controlled by their saliva. Remember the childhood disease children would get after taking a cillin of some sort? Thrush. it is easy to treat, uncomfortable, and usually comes back.
4. Lycan Planus. This is a white web-like film on the flesh inside your mouth. It is not painful, but is erosive and can progress into huge painful ulcers that are hard to treat.
5. Lowered taste sensation to sweets. This is bad because it causes you to eat more sweets in order to even taste them.
Dr. Logan made a startling statement: "Gum disease equals tooth loss" plain and simple. A normal person can clamp their together with the force of 150-200 lbs per square inch of tooth bite. A person with dentures can clamp their teeth together with the force of 15 lbs per square inch of tooth bite. Surprising, right? You can't eat well if you can't chew!
Dr. Logan discussed an 11 year study that was done on the Pima Indians. This study revealed that 60% of the over 600 Pima Indians were type 2 diabetics. Of these, the ones with mild to no gum disease had a 3 in 1,000 death rate; those with moderate gum disease had a 19 in 1,000 death rate; and those with advanced gum disease had a 29 in 1,000 death rate.
Dr Logan stated that if you have gum disease, you have a high chance of having heart disease, low birth rate, and other problems. The problem is you have bacteria inflaming your gums, they bleed, the bacteria gets in your blood stream and ravages other organs. Dr Logan told a sad story of a woman who had a still born baby. The autopsy revealed that the bacteria that killed the baby was from the mother's bloodstream but not from vaginal bacteria or colon bacteria, it was the same bacteria that was in her gums. So in essence, her gum disease caused her to lose her child. So sad.....
Diabetics have 3 times the chances of getting gum disease, 15 times the chances of having tooth loss, and if you smoke, you have 20 times the chance of having gum disease. An estimated 20 million people have gum disease, and 1/3 of them don't even know it....
Dr. Logan didn't barge into our meeting flinging scary statistics, he is a gentle man who presented the facts in a way that even the children in the room listened and understood.
He explained that your mouth doesn't have to go to pot. You can help control it with good nutrition, exercise, and, yes, regular visits to the dentist. If you keep your blood glucose under control by self-checking and eating and/or taking your insulin accordingly this will help tremendously. He said being diabetic doesn't mean you will have gum disease, it just means you must take extra care of your teeth and gums.
In caring for your teeth, Dr. Logan says first you must scrub the chewing surface (top) of your teeth really hard with a soft, not hard, toothbrush. Then at a 45% angle brush in circles on the top up and the bottom down, on the inside and outside of the teeth. On the back of the front teeth, pull up and down. And an important factor, don't forget your tongue, it is loaded with junk! He says you should spend 2-3 minutes on your teeth, but most people average about 20 seconds! Oh my!
Scary thought... 20 minutes after you clean, the bacteria is there. 24 hours after, the plaque is back! This is why brushing at night is the most important time to brush. When you sleep your salivary flow shuts down and plaque has a heyday on food left on your teeth! Eeuuuwww!
When choosing a mouthwash, always try for one that has no alcohol because it dries the mouth out and you get back in the 'heyday' situation. even though Listerine has some alcohol, it is ok because it has lots of other 'good stuff' in it.
You should change your toothbrush every 3 months or when you get sick. But, Dr Logan also suggested cleaning your toothbrush regularly with .... the dishwasher! Yes! The water flow gets your toothbrush it's cleanest.
Flossing is critically important. Create a 'C' with the floss and run it up and down each tooth on each side to catch every spot. Dr. Logan says it's more important to floss than anything else. He says if you were on a deserted island and had a choice of a toothbrush or floss, you should choose the floss! Wow!
Dr Logan was a very interesting guest and we hope to have him back very soon. He says next time, he will bring some pictures for the projector and show us some really gorey gross pictures.... I can't wait, how about you?