Question:
I have been plagued over the years with various stages of periodontal
disease. I have undergone quadrant scaling, and every visit to the
dentist for checkups leaves me feeling that I don't do enough to keep
my gums healthy.Flossing, stimudent, proxybrush, massage, flouride,
special toothpaste, all these seem to help, but not enough.
Today, at an appointment with the dental hygienist, she told me that
it's really *not* my fault! It's been discovered recently that three
different kinds of bacteria below the gums do a lot to cause
periodontal disease. She went on to say that there is a culture test
for these bacteria, but it hasn't been approved by the FDA.If it is,
she went on to tell me, there will surely be a treatment to fight
these specific bacteria.Exciting news for both of us.
What I'd like to know is whether there's anywhere in the world that
these treatments are being used, and what kinds of results there have
been. Till then...proxybrush, rubber tip, brush, stimudent. ( Not that
I think this new treatment would ever replace good home care)
Answer:
First, I'm not a dentist, but I'm also interested in this
stuff and have looked into it. It sounds great.
One of the bacteria is Streptococcus mutans and the Cariescreen
SM test is used to check for high levels. You chew wax and
then the saliva is mixed with some stuff and incubated. The
amount of growth of the bacteria is checked visually against
a chart. My count was low, which might account for the fact
that I haven't had a cavity for over 20 years.
The treatment is Chlorzoin - it is painted on the teeth to
kill 95% of s. mutans and keep the level low. The key here is
that it is a timed-release product so that it keeps on working
over the 6 months (as opposed to topical chlorhexadine
treatments).
My dentist has this available now under the Emergency Drug
Release Program in Canada and it is in clinical trials up
here now. I'm told that similar testing and approval
programs for FDA are currently under way in the US.
He said it is being marketed all over the world too, so
it may be available everywhere soon.
My dentist gave me a brochure on this stuff, so here are
some numbers for more info:
Knowell Therapeutic Technologies Inc.
298 Kennedy Avenue
Toronto, Canada, M6P 3C3
(416) 762-8051
(416) 762-0126 (FAX)
1-800 473-2999 (toll-free, Canada only)
I am intrigued that a common antiseptic rinse, 20% alchohol= "Listerine",
is NOT on that list.
There seems to be a lot of folklorish evidence from ex-ging-sufferers
about its effectiveness as an adjuct to mechanical cleaning.
But, on the other hand, perhaps they aren't motivated to suspect a pacebo
effect and do their own controlled studies ?
