Are the Bacteria in Your Mouth Killing You?
Dr. Alfred W. Choi, D.D.S.

• Fact: people with periodontal (gum) disease are almost 2 times as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease as those without periodontal disease.
• Fact: People with deep gum pockets have an increased risk for abnormal ECGs.
• Fact: People with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are 3 times more likely  to develop gum disease than non-diabetic individuals. 
• Fact: Mothers of pre-term low birth-weight newborns were found to have significantly more severe gum disease than did mothers of full-term, normal weight babies.

What is periodontal disease?
One human mouth is home to more microorganisms than there are people on our planet earth.  Gum disease is a chronic bacterial infection that affects not just the gums, but the bone supporting the teeth.  These bacteria start to invade and colonize tissues in the mouth (especially the space between the gums and the teeth) from birth till death.  More than 400 species of bacteria create an exquisite system called a ‘bio-film’. 

Why do some people have gum disease and some don’t?
• Some people keep their teeth and gums meticulously clean.
• Some people have signs of gum disease but chose to ignore them.
• Some were never diagnosed.
• Some were diagnosed but chose not to do anything about them.
• The truth is: almost everybody has some form of gum disease – some more severe than others.
 
How is gum disease diagnosed?
Through a periodontal evaluation which includes:
• Probing the gums for pockets (abnormal spaces between the gums and the teeth),
• Charting areas of bleeding (an important sign of gum disease),
• Checking the appearance of the gums (color, texture, swelling, etc),
• Checking for formation of plaque and calculus,
• Checking for looseness of teeth, and
• Checking the status of a person’s oral hygiene  (or home care). 

Other tests that our office does:
• An in-office microscopic slide exam of gum bacteria (to determine the extent of gum  treatment required).  We use dark-field  and phase contrast microscopy. 
• Bacterial cultures (sampled in the office and  sent to a lab for analysis) to determine the exact  species of bacteria, their potential for damage, as  well as their reaction to certain antibiotics that may be used.

Our office treats gum disease non-surgically by:
• Disinfection of the gums – through irrigation with antiseptic and insertion of slow-release antiseptic wafers in deeper pockets,
• Debridement to remove hard deposits,
• Root-planing to remove the bio-film which harbors bacteria,
• Prevention, and
• Control of nutrition and other lifestyle risk factors.  

Philosophy of Our Practice
We are concerned with the overall health of our patients.  We believe that the mouth is just part of the whole body.  The mouth affects the rest of the body and events that occur in the body invariably affects the mouth.  Because of this, we must first understand our patients as a whole before we treat their mouths.  To arrive at this understanding, we conduct various tests and gather large amounts of information before we derive a treatment plan that is customized for each of our patients.  Through this, we offer a holistic approach to dental problems.

We respect our patients’ time and effort and their participation in their own health care,  and we believe that what is worth doing is worth doing excellently. 

Holistic dentistry is not a specialty, but is a philosophical approach to the practice of dentistry that connects the mouth with the rest of the body.  Hence, our name: Lifeway Dental Connections. 

Dr. Choi, a leader in holistic dental health care, has practiced dentistry for 25 years. He graduated from the University of Singapore in 1980.  He was licensed to practice dentistry in Florida in 1989 and has practiced holistic dentistry exclusively since 1994.

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