The Checkup That Can Save Your Life
The dentist maybe the most important doctor you see this year
By Diane Peters
Lorne Jones could barely eat. The 63-year-old’s dentures were rubbing on the left side of his mouth, and the pain was steadily getting worse. Although the farmer from Utica, Ont., hated visiting the dentist – and hadn’t been in 15 years – he made a hasty trip to a nearby denturist he didn’t know and got his dentures relined. But the painful rubbing continued.
Finally, he made an appointment with a Port Perry dentist. Dr. jack Cotrell did a quick exam and put down his latex gloves. “Lorne, I’m sending you to a specialist in Toronto. I don’t want to go any further.”
Three weeks later, he was sitting in Dr. Kevin Higgin’s office at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The head-and-neck surgeon took one look in Jones’ mouth. “It’s cancer,” he said. Six weeks after visiting his dentist, Jones went into surgery. Over the course of an 11-hour operation, Higgins split Jones’s jawbone in order to have access to the cancerous tissue on the tonsil, soft palate, tongue and the jawbone itself. The surgeon also cut from his lip down to his throat, under his chin from ear to ear, and from his left ear to his shoulder. “Without this surgery, Lorne would have been dead within a year,” Higgins told Jones’s wife, Doreen, and Daughter, Sherrie.
Thank your dentist only finds and fills cavities? Not at all. Dentists routinely spot signs of cancer, diabetes and heart disease, along with a variety of rare skin and autoimmune diseases. “We can spot disease processes at an early stage. We don’t just look for teeth and gum problems,” says Cottrell, who is also past president of the Canadian Dental Association. Visiting your dentist regularly can lead to early diagnosis and early treatment. Your dentist can do much more than save your teeth and gums; he or she can also save your life.
And even if, on your next visit, your dentist doesn’t set in motion a serious diagnosis, you still need that regular professional cleaning. Keeping a healthy mouth plays a huge role in having a well body. Gum disease – which dentists help identify, prevent, and treat – may heighten the risk for heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia and premature birth, according to recent clinical trials. With good old regular brushing and flossing, you may prevent all that. By seeing your dentist every six months, you can nip a lot of problems in the bud.
An Oral Contradiction
Canadians have brighter smiles than ever before, thanks to ubiquitous teeth whitening systems. And we’re getting more dental care: Three quarters of Canadians see a dentist on a regular basis today compared to just half of us 25 years ago. As well, in 2003 only only nine percent of the population had lost all their teeth to periodontal disease compared to 16 percent in 1990. But here's the bad news: Seventy-five percent of Canadians have gum disease, and about 30 percent of those have advanced disease, according to Dr. Tammy Wright, president of the Canadian Academy of Periodontology. This can lead to serious health problems.
Part of the problem is that we're not taking care of our teeth - surveys she that three quarters of Canadians do not floss regularly. Not getting enough fluoride is also a factor. Only 40 percent of Canadians have access to fluoridated water. This problem is compounded for people who live in remote communities, particularly in the Far North, where limited access to dentists just worsens the problem. But even people in cities aren't always getting all the fluoride they need. What's more, many brands of bottled water contain too little or none.
Another worrisome problem is that less than two thirds of Canadians have dental coverage, and a visit to the dentist can run over $100. "Although the majority of Canadians are able to visit the dentist, for some people, cost may be a barrier," says Cottrell. (He estimates Canadian dentists quietly do about $200 million a year in pro bono work, mainly for patients who've fallen in hard times, and particularly children.) The reality is that people are still falling out of the system.
Dr. Molly Rodgers, General Dentist - Providing services in cosmetic dentistry to the area of Edmonton Alberta, Canada.
