This section of our web page contains information about your overall health and your dental health that is hot off the journal pages.  It also may contain short articles that we have written concerning specific topics in dentistry.  It will be updated quarterly.  If you have a specific question or a subject matter that you would like to know more about just e-mail Dr. Balaze at drbbalaze@directionsindentistry.com and he'll add it to the next quarter's update.

Study strengthens link between gum and cardiovascular disease 
New research has been completed which strengthens the link between periodontal disease (gum disease) and blood vessel dysfunction.  A link was found between early indicators of artheroscleorsis (plaque build-up in the blood vessels) and periodontal disease.  However, blood vessel dysfunction can be improved by an intensive regimen of periodontal (gum) treatment.  In the study, the group receiving intensive periodontal treatment showed statistically important improvements in blood flow within two months of treatment.  The study appears in the March 1, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.  What this means is that if you are a patient with cardiovascular disease it is vitally important to have healthy gum tissues.

Thanks Mom
Your chances of living to 100 may depend on how young your mother was when she gave birth to you, according to researchers.  A team at the University of Chicago found that people born to women younger than age 25 were about twice as likely to live for a century or longer then people born to older mothers.
The study of 198 centenarians born in the United States from 1890-1893 found that the first-born children were more likely to live to age 100 than later-born siblings.  After further analysis, the researchers concluded that this longevity advantage among first-born chindren was largely linked to the fact that they were born when their mothers were in their teens or early 20's.  According to the Census Bureau, the number of centenarians in the United States increased from 37,000 to 55,000 between the years 1990 and 2000.  Women are three to five times more likely than men ti reach age 100.  The oldest patient in our practice is a bright, young-at-heart woman of 95.