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To Maintain good Oral Health, Prevent Heart Disease, Stroke, Diabetes, and Healthier Teeth
Posted on September 2nd, 2009 No commentsStudies show that oral hygiene plays a role in overall health. Researchers have found that people who have periodontal disease have in increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and type II diabetes. The same harmful bacteria found in the mouth have been found in arterial plaques that cause heart disease. Saving your teeth can also save your life!
In conjunction with the in-office treatment you will receive, there are several things you can do at home to prevent and maintain your periodontal condition.
Coenzyme Q10, also known as CoQ10, is an antioxidant recommended by many dentists for the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. CoQ10 is found in every cell of your body, particularly in the heart and oral tissues.
Researchers found that people with periodontal disease had a deficiency of this essential nutrient. It is recommended that you take at least 30mg two times per day. This is not a magic pill, you still need to brush, floss, and see your dental hygienist at least twice per year. Every day, bacteria that naturally builds up in the oral cavity, along with food particles, form a sticky, clear film on your teeth. This film is called plaque, and it forms above the gumline and below the gumline on the root surface. Plaque forms regardless of whether you eat or not.
Plaque that is not removed by brushing and flossing. It becomes hard and is unable to be removed with a toothbrush or floss. This hard plaques is called tartar. These tartar deposits produce toxins from the bacteria which cause inflammation. Inflammation of the gums is called gingivitis, and it is reversible. The inflammation below the gumline breaks down the bone and other supporting structures. This breakdown causes a space to form between the tooth and the gum, called a pocket. The breakdown of the bone and pocket formation is called periodontitis, and it is not reversible.
It is recommended that you have a dental phophylaxis or “cleaning” at least two times a year. Unfortunately, even with regular visits gingivitis and periodontitis still occur. In fact, it is estimated that 80% of adults have some severity of bone loss.
Another at-home option is to use a waterpik, which is an oral irrigator. The waterpik uses a high-powered, pulsating stream of water to gently clean around the gumline. There is also an attachment called a pik pocket, which is designed to clean periodontal pockets. In clinical studies the waterpik was 93% more effective than floss.
Doing one or both of these easy oral healthcare practices could save your teeth and your life.
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Women and Oral Contraceptives
Posted on August 2nd, 2009 No commentsOral contraceptives are one of those things that modern science has brought to help women bear the burden of pregnancy, helping women to better direct their fate by placing greater control of their reproduction in their hands. In some instances, a woman may wish to defer child bearing especially when childbearing years are so close to each other that they are likely to imperil the woman’s health in the long run. As such, the one thing that woman consult are birth control measures.
There are plenty of options relating to birth control, and oral contraceptives are just one of them. More popularly known as pills, oral contraceptives are used by more than half of women who use birth control methods. Moreover, if they are used correctly, some estimates of their efficiency have been variously estimated at around 90 percent.The Common Forms of Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives for women are available in the following forms:
1) Combined oral contraceptive pill. The combined oral contraceptive pill is more popularly known simply as “the pill.” It is a combination of estrogen and progestin, and it is taken orally to inhibit normal female fertility. This form of contraceptive is one of the oldest around, their use dating back to the 1960s. The pill is used more often by women in Western countries where 12 million women in the U.S. use it while the figure for Britain is 25 percent of the women population in their childbearing years. On the contrary, Eastern countries do not find the pill too attractive: it is virtually unknown in most Asian countries, and even in Japan, the most advanced of Asian nations, only 1 percent of the female population use it.
2) Progestogen-only pills are also known as mini pills. Unlike in the combined oral contraceptive pill, only progestogens are taken while the estrogen is left out of the equation. One advantage of the progesterone pills and the combined oral contraceptive pill is that they seem to work well on individuals even with migraines and seem to have no negative side effects on most women.
3) The next common oral contraceptive is the Mifepristone. It is a synthetic compound used as abortifacient during the first two months of pregnancy and taken in small doses as emergency contraceptive. In its role as an emergency contraceptive, it can prevent ovulation and so eliminate pregnancy if it is taken before ovulation even after sexual intercourse. The drug was made and developed in France in the 1980s and marketed worldwide under different names.
4) Ormeloxifene. . It is a selective estrogen receptor modulator, which is taken one to two times per week. It is a non-hormonal and non-steroidal oral contraceptive. Though the product is touted to be very effective, the time by which it is taken has a huge impact on its effectivity. The pill should be taken twice in a week at the same time because a difference of a few hours is enough to reduce its efficiency.
Oral contraceptives are now made even more popular because of efforts to help women get more protection during pregnancy. However, the major consideration in choosing which oral contraceptive to use is the health of the woman. No reason is reason enough to imperil a woman’s health.