Episode 7 - Let's Talk About Gums

Dr. Michelle takes a deep-dive on gum health, warning signs of gum disease, and ways to keep your gums healthy for life.


Learn more at:  https://jacksonvillebeachdentist.com/services/gum-treatment/

Transcript

Kevin (00:05):
It's time for Dr. Michelle's smile cast where we talk about your smile and other interesting dental topics. And now here's Dr. Michelle DeFelice Hucke of Jax Beaches Family Dentistry.

Kevin (00:22):
Yeah, we broadcast all day long, but we only smile cast when Dr. Michelle is in the house. How's that? Huh? They're

Dr. Michelle (00:31):
So quick on your feet.

Kevin (00:33):
That is so cheesy. That was really very cheesy. Yeah. Dr. Michelle DeFelice. Hucke is here with us in the house. We have a special listener right now listening to us. Shout out to your daughter. Hi, Lizzie. Lizzie's listening to us, so we got to be on our A game. That's right. Pressure's on. I'm already sweating

Dr. Michelle (00:49):
Lizzie and Lucy.

Kevin (00:50):
Oh, Lucy's listening too. Yeah. Alright. Alright. Shout out to both the twins. Jack's speech is family dentistry. You can always connect with Dr. Michelle. Learn more about her bio and bio of the other doctors. Also is available at jacksonvillebeachdentist.com. Jacksonvillebeachdentist.com. And each and every month, Dr. Michelle joins us live. On the radio, we talk about a topic that impacts your dental health. Today I thought we could talk about gums, not chewing gums, but your gums, right? Yes. So give us kind of the biology anatomy 1 0 1 thing, the gum. Is it just the skin around the base? The bottom of the root of the tooth?

Dr. Michelle (01:30):
Yeah. I mean layman's terms. It's the tooth.

Kevin (01:32):
Well, on the layman's.

Dr. Michelle (01:33):
Yeah, it's the tissue that you see that's pink in your mouth. Hopefully it's pink that's in your mouth. That's basically helping to support and hold your teeth.

Kevin (01:43):
So we brushed our teeth this morning, or last night hopefully, and we did our rinse and blood came out.

Dr. Michelle (01:52):
Yikes. Blood in the sink

Kevin (01:54):
Or we flossed, which we should do at least twice a day, right?

Dr. Michelle (02:00):
Realistically,

Kevin (02:00):
Once a

Dr. Michelle (02:01):
Day, we're working for once a day. I

Kevin (02:03):
Do it once a day. So you floss and it starts bleeding at the gum line. What is that telling us?

Dr. Michelle (02:09):
So blood in the sink is a symptom of gum disease. The type of gum disease you have is dependent on whether you have bone loss or not, which obviously you can't tell yourself. And bleeding of your gums isn't good. There are a couple of things though that are important to be sure to clarify. I had a patient this week who is a new mom, and she started to notice blood in the sink. And her reaction to that was to stop flossing aggressively enough. Yeah.

Kevin (02:41):
The flossing is causing it,

Dr. Michelle (02:42):
Right? No. So yeah, if there's blood in the sink and there's an area of your tissue, as long as you're getting regular dental care and there's an area of the tissue that's inflamed, you actually want to continue or even be a little bit more aggressive with cleaning that gum tissue because that means that you have some inflammation. And the best way to get rid of that inflammation is to clean it more assertively. So if I have a little bit of a flare up, I get the little picks out and actually try to go up under the tissue that is sore, get it cleaned out, make sure I'm flossing to make sure there's no debris stuck up underneath there. And then I do some rinsing and make sure you want to be more assertive if you have some bleeding. Now, if you're not getting regular care and you're having bleeding, that's your body's way of telling you, Hey, you have gum disease. It's time. It's time. It's time to go get some care.

Kevin (03:43):
Go to the dentist. Learn more at jacksonvillebeachdentist.com. So play this out a little bit because it's just fun to always scare people. So if they're gums,

Dr. Michelle (03:53):
I don't like to necessarily scare people. I

Kevin (03:55):
Know you don't, but I do. And so we're not flossing and the bleeding gets worse and worse. Worse, seriously, if you don't treat gum disease, where does this end up?

Dr. Michelle (04:03):
Well, even on the short run when the bleeding has just started, the problem with gum bleeding is that your mouth, as we all know right, has bacteria in it. Some of that bacteria is pretty dangerous. So it's dangerous to your cardiovascular system for the most. That's the primary concern. Well, the primary concern is your teeth, right? But having a heart attack your cardiovascular system is pretty important also. And the reason that we have now have really high level scientific studies that show that gum disease is linked to cardiovascular disease is that once you have the bleeding, once you have the gum disease, that barrier similar to your skin barrier, your skin being intact, is what keeps infection and things out of your bloodstream. Well, your gums are the barrier, like you said earlier, the skin in your mouth. And if it's not intact, then that bacteria has one two-Way highway to the rest of your bloodstream. So we're learning more and more about it. But there is a lot of very good evidence that shows it's directly linked to heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular issues.

Kevin (05:24):
And separate from that, if we kept it isolated just on dental health, just not treating it and having the gums get more and more diseased, worse and worse and worse is just going to impact how long you can keep your teeth. Or a lot of our listeners who are aged 50 plus, right?

Dr. Michelle (05:37):
Right. Yeah. So having intact tissue, having no inflammation is the most important thing in terms of keeping your teeth for a lifetime. Once you have that inflammation, it becomes chronic. The very next thing that happens in gum disease is the bone begins to break down. So the bone is up underneath the gums and that's what holds your teeth, your mouth, and keeps them healthy.

Kevin (06:04):
And of course, I'm a patient of Dr. Michelle's and Emma, my hygienist always says if there's a tiny little bit of bleeding when he's aggressively flossing for me, he says it's

Dr. Michelle (06:17):
Not aggressively or they're

Kevin (06:19):
Doing a better job than I do, although I do it every night. But he also tells me too, that it's not necessarily a reason to go into total panic mode. Just because you see just a little bit of blood one time doesn't mean they have severe gum disease.

Dr. Michelle (06:33):
Oh, for sure. Yeah. If you're getting regular care and you notice blood in the sink, then like I said earlier, what I, because it happens to me too. I mean, I know I'm a dentist. Are you human? But I'm like a human. Yeah.

Kevin (06:46):
I'm like a human.

Dr. Michelle (06:47):
Just like a human. But yeah, I just, I'm more assertive in that one area. And again, what I do is then I start to pick at it and maybe dip the pick in some peroxide or

Kevin (06:59):
So does mouthwash help at all with dealing with gum disease

Dr. Michelle (07:02):
Or Listerine? I know you think that, oh, that's just hype. But Listerine has been around for a very long time. It's something my grandfather who would be like 110 if he was still alive, believed in Listerine and kept his teeth for a lifetime, had some amazing dental work done. He's not a dentist. And he used that brown original Listerine. A lot of very good research, like independent research about how great Listerine is. So I recommend Listerine, especially if people are water pick users. You can put it right into the thing and water pick away with it. Now the thing with rinses versus other things, like we have a hydrogen peroxide gel treatment tray that we use for long-term gum health. The advantage of gels or things that go in trays and are held against the tissue is that you have, if you're holding it in there versus rinsing, which just kind of washes across tissue and washes across your mouth, is that when you're holding something against the tissue or up under the tissue, it is more effective being held in there. No different too. If people are struggling with cavities, we have a tendency to suggest trays where you can put a fluoride gel in there and hold it against the teeth soaks in better or works better.

Kevin (08:29):
I know I made the change. I made a switch not to put out brand names from the Crest mouthwash, which I liked because it was wimpy and didn't burn my mouth and blah, blah, blah. To the crest or to the Listerine. Cool Mint. And I'm getting better results. Oh, good. I think, and Emel says I'm looking better as a result of the switch.

Dr. Michelle (08:48):
And I mean, I'm certainly not bashing Colgate and I don't have any, it's not like this monthly radio spot has any sort of title sponsor. So

Kevin (08:58):
Although we're looking for

Dr. Michelle (08:59):
One, yeah, I can say whatever I want to say, but Listerine really has some of the best research in the industry.

Kevin (09:06):
Yeah. Well, there you go. We're going to talk more about gum health and other things that can go on as we work our way through our time with Dr. Michelle. In the meantime, if you have any questions or you have any issues with your dental health, maybe you haven't had a teeth cleaning in a while. (904) 247-0111 is the telephone number here locally? Two four seven zero one one one. Dr. Michelle Defelice Hucke is here with us, and we'll be back

(10:01):
Hey, you're spending time with Dr. Michelle DeFelice Hucke and she of course, one of the owners of Jax Beaches Family Dentistry, a long time member of our community here in northeast Florida. And she's been practicing dentistry now for a lot of years. It's funny that you're practicing. It's

Dr. Michelle (10:19):
Like I know. I don't know where that term came from.

Kevin (10:21):
So silly. Really?

Dr. Michelle (10:23):
I mean, practice

Kevin (10:24):
Golf

Dr. Michelle (10:25):
First year you're practicing, but pretty much after that you're good.

Kevin (10:28):
Yeah, we don't want anybody practicing in our mouths. No, we don't. Speaking of mouths, since the last time we were together in our last podcast dash broadcast, I got to sit in the chair with Dr. Michelle and she got to endure me for a couple of hours while we were placed five fillings, a bunch of fillings. They were all silver and my teeth were cracking. I had decay underneath the fillings. Have we ruined your lunchtime appetite yet? But now I'm in good shape

Dr. Michelle (10:59):
And most people don't even know you've ever had a cavity. Everything

Kevin (11:03):
Looks white now. When I yawn people don't chastise me for having too many cavities. That's right, because my fillings match the color of my

Dr. Michelle (11:12):
Teeth. Oh, your dentist knows.

Kevin (11:13):
That's right. That's right. So anyway, she made it a very pleasant experience. Who was a young lady who helped too. Shyla. Shout out to Shyla. She was good too. She talked me off the ledge a few times. I'm just kidding. It's fine. But I didn't feel any pain at all and walked out of there and I was chewing away a little numb for a minute.

Dr. Michelle (11:32):
Yeah, not chewing away immediately. Please don't ever do that for anyone listening. I

Kevin (11:36):
Walked out of Jax Beaches Family Dentistry. I was saying nice, saying goodbye to the very nice lady, Amber, who sort of helps run the place. And because I couldn't speak, it came out as sub slurred word. So I'd been at a bar for four or five hours.

Dr. Michelle (11:50):
She, we all understand people no matter how they speak.

Kevin (11:54):
Yeah. They didn't make fun of me, which is no. Yeah, the dental office, the Jax Beaches Family Dentistry, much kinder place in here at the radio station. If you leave here slurring your words, we are going to make fun of you. But we're talking about gum health today, gum health, and we spent some time previously identifying what the issues are and what Dr. Michelle and her team can do to help you. What things you can do ongoing to help dealing with making sure that you have good gum health, including flossing, perhaps gargling with something like Listerine. And of course, regular teeth cleanings.

Dr. Michelle (12:23):
Yeah. I gave a little presentation and one of the things I talked about was what is the reason we go to the dentist every six or three months anyway? And the interesting thing is, I had several people come up to me and say, because I give a lot of presentations, and I had somebody come up to me and say, that was the most useful presentation you have ever given. Now this is a patient of mine who comes to the dentist regularly. And he said, I think a lot of people don't know why they go to the dentist. And I said, well, that's why I brought it up, but I'm surprised that you don't know because you come and see me regularly. So what I said was, there's really two main reasons that are super important to go regularly. One of them is that every time you go to the dentist, you get your quote teeth cleaned.

(13:15):
You're really getting your gums cared for. And he wasn't aware of that. So the reason that we're cleaning the charter off and doing all the things that we do every six months is it was scientifically figured out a super long time ago that every six months is really a really important time to get the tartar off. And then we're also, the reason that the hygienist is probing with that probe is they're checking the pocket depths. So that's the area between the gum and the tooth. And how deep is that? The reason the number of millimeters is important, and it's important to record that on a regular basis, is once it gets to a certain extent or a certain depth, you can no longer maintain that at home. So then that's when we need to do additional services or talk about other things that we're going to need to do in order to maintain your gum health to the point where once you leave, you can keep it maintained and keep it healthy.

(14:19):
And then the second reason to come to the dentist every six months is to get an exam by a dentist. So the hygienist is the first eyes on it, and 90% of the time they catch every single thing in your mouth that is going on or not going on. And then the dentist does another pass at it. So you have two people taking a look at your mouth, looking at every single tooth, every single pocket depth, the X-rays, reviewing them again, making sure nothing was missed before. So regular care is super important for those two reasons. But it was interesting to me that that was so interesting to someone that gets regular care. I mean, I think a lot of the reasons people go every six months is because their mom told 'em to.

Kevin (15:05):
Oh yeah. We've been told since you get your teeth cleaned twice a year. That's right. And you do not ask questions, people just do what you're told. That's right. You forgot about the all important third reason to go to the dentist regularly and hopefully Jax Beaches Family Dentistry,

Dr. Michelle (15:17):
Cancer screening.

Kevin (15:19):
Well, that's important too, but is it as important as the free little bag with the free toothbrush and the little tube of toothpaste?

Dr. Michelle (15:25):
Well, it's funny. I mean, so many people use electric brushes.

Kevin (15:30):
Well, I do too, but I still want my freebie. Yes,

Dr. Michelle (15:32):
You do. I'm sure for your guests that come,

Kevin (15:36):
The guest bathroom, or sometimes I use it even here at the radio station, I have to scrub little noss and crannies. Oh no. I don't use it to brush my teeth afterwards. Oh, that's good. But seriously, it is important to have regular dental care, especially if the goal is, which I think we all have this goal to try to hold onto our teeth and have good dental health as long as possible for a lifetime.

Dr. Michelle (15:58):
Well, and there's a couple of reasons that that's important. One of them is, as you get older, if you then, God forbid, have health issues, the more that you can just keep your teeth healthy, maintain them on a regular basis, and let's say you end up losing a couple of them, you still, as you age and as you have medical issues, you want to keep things the same as much as possible because eating comfortably and safely not choking, talking, speaking, smiling, those are the things as we get older, as we have more birthdays, those basic things are super important. And heading into that part of your life, needing all kinds of dental work or having things breaking down becomes really stressful to people. Because a lot of times I have someone as young as 60 or 65 say, oh my gosh, why do I want to invest in my teeth? And I'm like, because,

Kevin (16:55):
Because you've got another 30 years on the planet. Yeah.

Dr. Michelle (16:57):
We just want to keep you the same for the next couple decades. We don't want to be reinventing the wheel that your creator already invented. We just want to keep you the way you are.

Kevin (17:10):
Well, and you make a really good point. It's so important about diet too. Once you start feeling a little bit of pain in your mouth, right? Then you say, oh, maybe I won't eat that particular piece of lettuce or whatever it is. I'm going to stay away from corn. So you don't want to ever start going down that road where your teeth and your gums are preventing you from eating in the way that you're used to eating.

Dr. Michelle (17:31):
Well. And also just though socially going out and having a nice meal with friends and being able to talk and laugh and swallow and not choke and just basic. I mean it just a terrible thing to say, but I'm not exactly a spring chicken myself, so I'm talking about myself. But as you age and as you're doing less and less things that you used to do, the simple things become even more important. And we don't want to complicate those simple, enjoyable things.

Kevin (18:05):
Yeah. Well, obviously Dr. Michelle knows what she's doing. Highly recommend her. She's been my dentist for many, many years. I'm just kidding. And then when she says she's not a spring chicken anymore, it suddenly made me sad because we're the same exact age. And I'm like, what is she talking about? I'm a spring chicken. Anyway, you can learn more and you can connect with her schedule and appointment appointments are available, and you can call 2 4 7 0 1 1 1. The website is jacksonvillebeachdentist.com. Jacksonvillebeachdentist.com. We learned a lot about gum health today. Dr. Michelle, thank you for your time.

Dr. Michelle (18:40):
You're welcome. Thank you.