Cardiology

Q&A: Healthy gums, healthy heart; what's the connection?

Healthy gums are imperative to a healthy mouth, but what about your cardiovascular health? In honor of Heart Month, Dr. Frank Nichols, professor of periodontics at the UConn School of Dental Medicine, unravels the underlying ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Bacteria in the mouth linked to pulmonary fibrosis survival

Bacteria in the mouth may play a role in survival from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), finds a new study led by researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Toothbrushing and hospital infection prevention Q&A

Rupak Datta, MD, Ph.D., MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and an assistant hospital epidemiologist in the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System. His ...

Dentistry

Tracking periodontal disease to improve diagnosis and treatment

Periodontal disease is a growing public health issue in the United States as the nation's population ages, yet it's underdiagnosed and undertreated. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ...

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Periodontitis

Periodontitis is a set of inflammatory diseases affecting the periodontium, i.e., the tissues that surround and support the teeth. Periodontitis involves progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth, and if left untreated, can lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth. Periodontitis is caused by microorganisms that adhere to and grow on the tooth's surfaces, along with an overly aggressive immune response against these microorganisms. A diagnosis of periodontitis is established by inspecting the soft gum tissues around the teeth with a probe (i.e. a clinical exam) and by evaluating the patient's x-ray films (i.e. a radiographic exam), to determine the amount of bone loss around the teeth. Specialists in the treatment of periodontitis are periodontists; their field is known as "periodontology" or "periodontics".

The word "periodontitis" comes from peri ("around"), odont ("tooth") and -itis ("inflammation").

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