As pioneers in the prevention and treatment of gum disease, dentists echo important news constantly released by the American Academy of Periodontology on the prevalence of advanced periodontitis (gum disease or pyorrhea). According to epidemiological data provided by extensive literature review, news based on 72 studies of over 290,000 people in 37 countries say that advanced periodontitis is the sixth most prevalent disease in the human population. Advanced periodontitis affects 743 million people worldwide. The age-standardized prevalence would be 12.2%, representing 700 cases per 100,000 people per year. The highest prevalence would occur between the third and fourth decade of life, with the highest incidence around 37 years. These findings confirm the high prevalence of periodontal disease spreading. In short, this is a major public health problem. In many cases, periodontal treatment in Oak Lawn is needed to repair the issue.
The dentist must be able to identify a number of key prognostic factors as well: smoking, clenching (bruxism), tooth mobility and loss of tooth support, combined in varying measure. The combination of these factors could explain why a tooth has to be extracted. Tooth mobility is a key factor in predicting the prognosis of dental loss. The mobility factor is included with other important local factors but done so with a lower specific gravity than other issues like pocket depth, loss of tooth support, shape, and length of the roots, etc. The combination of all these factors is a key factor for an overall prognosis. Two additional general factors, tobacco use and bruxism, are closely related to mobility and help dentists predict tooth loss. Ask your dentist if periodontal treatment in Oak Lawn can help your case.
These preliminary results show that it is worth studying the issue in more depth, and that takes some time. About half of the patients who use tobacco and clinch their teeth, end up losing three or more teeth, compared with much smaller percentages of the other groups. Although dentists can justify this outcome based on the additive effect of the two factors, they find the idea of discarding the two very tough. Contact Oak Lawn Smiles Family Dentistry to learn more.
