Center for Disease Control (CDC) Study: Nearly Two-Thirds of US Adults over 30 have Periodontitis.
A press release announced that “a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirms that nearly one out of two U.S. adults age 30 and over – 64.7 million Americans – has periodontitis, the advanced form of periodontal disease
.” The study was published in the Journal of Periodontology, and it’s findings” also indicate that prevalence in highest among ethnic minorities, with 63.5 percent of Hispanic-Americans, 59.1 percent percent on Non-Hispanic Blacks and 50 percent of Non-Hispanic Asian Americans affected by periodontitis.”
A dental tip from one of the hygienists, Bronwyn, here at Plumb Dental:
Periodontal disease is like diabetes. It is controllable, not curable. When we treat periodontitis, it involves several steps.
- The first step is diagnosing the disease. We make a map of your tissue and a treatment plan to follow.
- The second step is treating the disease. A procedure called scaling and root planing is done to remove the destructive bacteria from the teeth and start the healing process.
- A periodontal maintenance visit is the third step. At this visit new information is gathered to make sure the inflammation is under control.
- Then regular maintenance visits are needed to continue controlling the disease.
Home care by the patient is just as important to the healing process and inflammation control. Instructions and products necessary for success are part of keeping our patients healthy.