Community Magazine July 2009

62 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE 62 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE N o medical doctor would ever evaluate your overall health without accurately determining your blood pressure and choles- terol levels. These numbers are important indicators of your well being, on the basis of which the doctor can recom- mend preventative medical measures. They are especially important because high blood pressure often shows no symptoms, and can thus cause a patient hidden damage. The same is true for gum disease. You can have bad gums without any symp- toms and it can do hidden damage. And just like you need to get your blood pres- sure checked at every medical exam, your gums must also be accurately mea- sured at every dental exam. Knowing the numbers can help catch problems and reverse the damage before it’s too late. Keeping Gums Under Check If a measurement of your gums deter- mines that you have gum disease, you can take treatments to help them get healthier. However, even after the gums are treated, the problem is not fixed. Gum disease is like diabetes and heart disease – you con- trol it and monitor it, but you can’t fix it. A person’s periodontal status can vary from healthy to several levels of disease. The earlier periodontal disease is detected, the easier and less costly it is to treat. Modern technology has provided us with a more accurate test for gum disease than we used in the past. In our office, we determine the presence or absence of gum disease (periodontal disease) with a simple and painless tool called the Florida probe™. It is a sort of computerized “gum ruler.” The probe gently measures the depth of the space between the tooth and gum, and the computer calls out the numbers and records them on an easy-to-read graphic picture. While it is normal to have a space that mea- sures 1-3 mm, 4-5mm is too deep and 6mm in depth or greater indicates serious dam- age.. The Florida Probe™ is so precise that we can accurately track pocket depth and monitor any changes that may occur. Benefits of the Florida Probe We have found the Florida probe to be both more accurate and more comfortable for patients than non-computerized probes. The computerized voice calling out the measurements helps patients understand their periodontal numbers and what they mean. When a reading is high, the computer announces, “Warning.” If the reading is too high, the voice announces, “Danger.” Florida Probe also records bleeding. Very often, patients are not aware that their gums bleed and don’t see any blood when they brush. But the Florida probe measures the activity of gum disease by recording any bleeding or pus that occurs during the probe exam. Once again, the computer-voice provides the information to the patient, announcing, “Bleeding” or “Pus.” Keeping track of our patients’ gum condi- tion helps them improve their oral health as well as their overall health. They get to see their progress by viewing the progress graph, which shows their improvements or breakdown, and the areas that need atten- tion. One patient said, “It’s amazing how accurate the system is. When I have been good with my homecare, my numbers are definitely better.” Florida probe is similar to the computerized diagnostics on car engines. There can be a problem with your engine but you won’t know about it until you are stuck on the highway. Diagnostics help find problems when they are still small and easy to fix, thus saving both time and money. When it comes to periodontal disease, early diagno- sis and monitoring can save not only time and money, but also your teeth. Periodontal disease affects over 80 per- cent of adults and is the leading cause of tooth loss among those over the age of 30. Furthermore, research indicates that periodontal disease may be a risk factor for heart disease, stroke and possibly even pre-term, low birth weight babies. It can also adversely affect the regulation of blood glucose in diabetics. For good reason, test- ing for periodontal disease is beginning to assume the same importance as testing for high blood pressure and cholesterol. JACQUES DOUECK, DDS R e v e a l i n g t h e H i d d e n D a m a g e