The Link bewteen Oral Inflammation and Systemic Health

The role that oral inflammation plays as a pathway to the rest of the body is becoming much better understood, making the control and prevention of gingivitis and periodontitis a critical part of optimal patient care.

The oral cavity is the portal to the rest of the body. Within the past decade, an emerging body of evidence has linked oral infections, primarily chronic inflammatory periodontitis to systemic conditions including atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease, kidney disease, bacterial pneumonia and obesity. All of these systemic issues may have an inflammatory, infectious, and/or bacterial component in common with periodontitis.

The dental hygienist plays an important role in the total systemic health treatment of patients with periodontal infections. A complete evaluation can assess the patient's risk of the future development, progression or recurrence of inflammatory periodontal diseases. This is especially important if the patient has one or more systemic risk factors, such as smoking, hyperglycemia, high cholesterol, or a familial history of hyperlipidemia. Genetic factors may play a significant role in 50% of patients with periodontal diseases.

Instead of merely treating the patient to stop the initiation of progression of periodontitis, today we want to control periodontal infection and inflammation that may affect other regions of the body. The focus of periodontal treatment is to attack the chronic inflammation. Essentially, periodontal disease should be treated as oral inflammation that must be controlled for better oral and overall health. Dealing with the inflammatory response to the bacteria is a main paradigm shift in the treatment of the periodontal patient.

Herpes and Oral Cancer

Onco VEX, the virus that causes cold sores (herpes simplex 1) has been used in small scale study to treat patients with mouth, neck and head cancer. Researchers injected the virus into the affected lymph node of 17 patients with mouth, neck or head cancer. The virus was injected in up to four doses. In 14 patients, tumor shrinkage was noted, and more than 75% of these patients did not show any signs of cancer in the treated lymph nodes. Two years later, more than 75% of the patients were still living. Because these cancers are typically aggressive with a high rate of recurrence, the results are promising. The researchers suggest that larger trials are warranted to further study this technique.

VELscope ~ the oral cancer screening system

Oral cancer is one of the few types of cancer that haven't experienced a significantly reduced mortality rate in the past 30 years. In fact, the number of North Americans developing oral cancer is three times the number who develop cervical cancer. Sadly, one North American dies of oral cancer every hour of every day.

The problem: Oral cancer is discovered in late stages about 70% of the time, and often that is simply too late.

Oral cancer has traditionally been associated with tobacco usage and it's true that the majority of oral cancer victims smoke or use chewing tobacco, consume alcohol and are over 40. But the group experiencing the highest growth rate of oral cancer incidence does not fit this traditional "at risk" profile. More and more, oral cancer is striking younger people who don't use tobacco or abuse alcohol.

In many cases, the cause appears to be one of two strains of the human papilloma virus (HPV-16 or HPV-18) that can be contracted during sexual intercourse and especially oral sex.

As a result, health care experts recommend annual oral cancer screenings for all adults ages 18 and older. If you smoke or use tobacco, screenings are recommended every six months.

Our practice has purchased a state-of-the-art device called the VELscope oral cancer screening system. We can use this device to literally see beneath the surface to detect potentially dangerous growths we might have otherwise missed.

In most cases, the VELscope exam will reveal nothing of concern and take only a few minutes as part of a regular hygiene check-up. It involves no pain and is completely safe. We think you will find this additional cost for this exam to be very reasonable, and it might be that the cost will be covered by your insurance.

We think that you'll appreciate the peace-of-mind this screening can provide.