Atlanta Center for Cosmetic Dentistry 5014 Roswell Rd NE 404-330-9089 www.AtlantaCenterForCosmeticDentistry.com A recent study has shown that healthy teeth not only look good, they can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but more than a few people don't get their gums and teeth checked out because, quite frankly, it's a pain. But a new procedure is taking that pain away. It is called the Florida probe, and Dr. King is the first in Atlanta to use it. She's here this morning to tell us how it works. We're talking about periodontal disease and you brought Debbie Chapman, your hygienist, with you and there's our victim. Gee thanks. I'm going to get my teeth probed and I'm over there eating chocolate and vegetables. Let's first talk about periodontal disease. What is it exactly? Dr. Debra Gray King: Periodontal disease is a condition of the gum and the tissue, and what we see is a loss of connective tissue, loss of the bone that actually holds the teeth in the jaw, and infectious pockets around the teeth. What's interesting is 85% of adults in the United States have some form of this disease. So, they really need to get looked at, like quickly! Dr. Debra Gray King: Absolutely! So, we have that study that we heard about. The difference between, the Florida Probe is waking up there, but the difference having healthy teeth can have in heart attack and stroke. Dr. Debra Gray King: Right! There have been several recent studies that link periodontal disease to heart disease and other ailments of the body. Some of the statistics are alarming. For instance, men under the age of 50 who have periodontal disease have double the risk of coronary heart disease than a man under the age of 50 who does not have periodontal disease. Also, stroke victims. We know that strokes are caused by fatty deposits on the carotid artery. Those fatty deposits contain 70% bacteria and 40% of that comes directly from the mouth. Also, women who have periodontal disease are eight times more likely to have preterm babies than women who don't have periodontal disease. All the more reason to get your teeth checked out right away! Which brings us to the Florida Probe. Which is what? Dr. Debra Gray King: It's still coming up I think. Ok, but it's suppose to be less painful because going into the periodontist, I'm sorry to say, has been a painful experience because of that manual probe that just kind of pokes in there. Dr. Debra Gray King: Right. This is the manual probe and most dentists still use this including myself occasionally. The difference with this is that operator to operator would have different pressure so you can get different readings, so it's not as accurate as the Florida Probe. The Florida Probe has a constant pressure, so it is constant no matter if I use it or Debbie uses it, or anyone. We can get very constant, reproducible results. Then, we can also use the charting that comes from it. Well, let's take a look at that while this is still warming up a little bit. This is the result of using the Florida Probe and the red shows what? Dr. Debra Gray King: The red shows the areas that are problems. Unhealthy areas where there is actual bone loss or bleeding, or infection. Ok, and the black is healthy? Dr. Debra Gray King: Healthy areas, right! So, you need treatment like right away with this sort of problem? Dr. Debra Gray King: Absolutely! The nice thing about the Florida Probe is it can be site specific where you could have healthy areas in most of your mouth, but in the back there could be some areas of periodontal disease. This indicates it to us, so we can be site specific and just deal with those areas. Ok, are we going to be able to probe Tom? Tom: We're having a problem probing, but this is what we're looking at right here. This is the wand. How does this work here? Debbie Chapman, RDH: How this works is, it goes down and it will measure the space where your dental floss is placed and it determines whether or not the tissues are healthy or diseased. And that's about the length of as much pressure that you put on, just a little dab? Debbie Chapman, RDH: Right, you can not press to hard. It's very comfortable to the patient. All the patients love it and you can not press harder. Like, the manual probe was all in our wrists and our hands, but this automatically does it. You can not press very hard, which makes it comfortable. Ok, well if you would like more information on the Florida Probe, you can reach Dr. Debra King in her Roswell Road office at 404-847-9711. Thank you so much for being with us! Dr. Debra Gray King: Thank you so much for having us! Debbie Chapman: Thank you!
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