Hi Clair,
Your description of your mom's dental history is indicative of periodontal disease. This condition is a progressive bacterial infection of the gums, supporting ligaments and jawbone surrounding the teeth. This condition alone will cause a disruption in the healing of where a tooth was extracted by preventing the bone and gum to heal properly.... sinus perforations are commonly seen in people with this condition who smoke.
Periodontal disease can contribute to other health conditions because the bacteria is continuously moving through the blood to other organs of the body. Extensive research has concluded that the same bacteria that causes periodontal disease contributes to coronary artery disease... ex: clogging of the arteries in the heart, brain and kidneys. So someone who has been living with uncontrolled periodontal disease for a long time will eventually start to feel unwell.
It may be helpful to consult with her physician about her dental issues emphasizing the periodontal disease. This will help him to order the proper blood tests which are generally not ordered on the routine blood workup.
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by clair
Thanks for your reply and thanks for confirming that it is possible that this has been going on all this time.
I don't know if my mum has periodontal disease...what is this? I do know that her teeth are in a very poor state with lots of canal treatments, lots of missing teeth and lots of fillings. Unfortunately as her mum lost all of her teeth due to gum disease she never bothered with my mum's teeth as a child and so when my mum first saw at dentist there was lots to be done. The dentist recently found a broken tooth too.
I am aware of the CRP test...I have crohn's and arthritis so very familiar with blood tests which is why when the doc said her white count was in the normal range I assumed nothing to be going on.
Thanks again.
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