Preventive Family Dentistry : A Lifetime of Oral Health
At Pine Seven Dental Centre, we pride ourselves with having life-long relationships with our patients; therefore, we want to ensure that they are able to maintain a high level of oral health.
Oral Health
Maintenance of oral health begins with a proper home care regime combined with regular dental hygiene visits. Dental hygienists are highly skilled in removing plaque and tartar and regular visits are essential for preventing gum disease, which if allowed to progress will result in the loss of bone and teeth. The bacteria that cause gum disease are also linked to other health conditions including:
- Uncontrolled diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Strokes
- Respiratory infections
- Pregnancy complications
- Osteoporosis
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Dementia
- Kidney Disease
- Oral Cancer
For patients that present with gum disease, Pine Seven Dental Centre’s team of highly skilled dental professionals are able to help patients manage and treat their gums utilizing the Soft Tissue Management Program, a non-surgical approach to healing gums.
Oral Cancer Screening
Oral cancer is any abnormal growth and spread of cells occurring in the oral cavity, and is the 13th most common cancer in Canada. Although the number of new cases and deaths due to oral cancer are relatively low compared to prostate, breast and colorectal cancer, it is almost 3 times higher than cervical cancer and almost double liver cancer.
Risk factors include:
- Age
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- HPV
- Gender (males are more susceptible than women)
- Diet
- Sun Exposure
25% of people diagnosed with oral cancer have no risk factors.
At Pine Seven Dental Centre, every time one of our patients sits in our chair, our Woodbridge dentists and/or hygienists perform a visual and tactile screening for oral cancer. Regular visits are vital as oral cancer can be successfully treated if caught at an early stage.
As an additional oral cancer screening measure, patients can ask to have the Vizilite and/or Toluidine blue test performed in office for early detection.
