Smile Lines - Winter 2004

What's All The Fuss About?

Mesa Cosmetic Dentist We've all heard that drinking milk builds strong teeth and healthy bones. For most of us, that pretty much sums up the link between diet, fitness, and oral health. But in fact, it's way more complicated than that...

According to the Academy of General Dentistry, more than 90% of all systemic diseases show up orally. Your dental health care providers may be the first to identify a potential health problem.

The links may sometimes seem precarious. What does your weight have to do with your oral health? Well, obesity - along with diabetes and cardiovascular disease - has reached epidemic proportions. It has a direct link not only to these diseases, but to poor oral health through poor nutrition. Proper diet and exercise can go a long way to lessen the symptoms of these diseases.

What does this mean for you and your family? If you eat healthily and exercise to maintain weight and fitness level, you will be well on the way to avoiding cavities, periodontal disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Keeping your regular recall appointments, and providing us with your medical and dental history, may help identify diseases in their earliest stages. And be sure to inform us of any recent health problems - even if they seem unrelated to your mouth.

Our tendency to eat on the run - along with the easy accessibility of processed convenience foods, fast takeouts, sweets, and snacks - contribute to these alarming statistics:

US officials are considering classifying obesity as a disease instead of a condition.
Almost 65% of North Americans are either overweight or obese.
Overweight is defined as roughly 10-30 pounds over your doctor-recommended healthy weight; obesity is 30+ pounds over.
The annual medical spending attributable to overweight and obesity has exceeded some estimates of those for smoking.
Deaths directly related to obesity have been estimated at more than 300,000 per year in the USA.
British officials are considering a ban on fast food advertising aimed at children.

Dentistry Celebrates!

Collaborative science ... making tooth regeneration possible

Gilbert Implant Dentist Dental science has come a long way since 1953 when Francis Crick and James Watson deduced the double helical structure of DNA. The pair built upon scientific knowledge that started with Darwin's principles of natural selection. Thanks to the advent of computers and international co-operation, scientists involved in the Human Genome Project have identified thousands of genes. A genome is a description or a map, of how, what, and even who we are.

Many fields of medicine and science have benefited, including dentistry. An exciting benefit? The possibility of eventually mastering the science of tooth regeneration . the ability to grow 100% real replacement teeth. And as with all scientific discoveries, there'll likely be many additional unanticipated benefits. Understanding the genetic code to human dentition is only a first step on the path to more discoveries.

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Sheldon Sullivan, DDS - Providing cosmetic dentistry and dental implants to the Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Phoenix, Arizona areas.

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