Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (00:00.578)
This is Dentistry Disrupted with Dr. Craig D. Clayton. I'm a wellness and biomemetic dentist, passionate changemaker, social media thought leader, and educator on disrupting the way we approach oral health care. Come along with me as we journey towards a healthier and more empowered you.
Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (00:29.102)
Hello and welcome to today's mini episode of Dentistry Disrupted. I'm Dr. Clayton and today I'm excited to talk with you a little bit about periodontal pathogens or the bacteria in the mouth that causes periodontal disease or gum inflammation, which then results in swollen gums, bleeding gums, bone loss, and in extreme cases, tooth loss. Recently,
I have been diving back into some of the research about gum inflammation and the bacteria that cause it and its links to other diseases. Lately, I listened to a great podcast that was featured on diaries of a CEO and the doctor was Dr. Victoria. She is located in London and she is a dentist.
microbiologist as well. And she has been studying a lot about the oral microbiome and the bad bacteria in there that cause disease. And it is just fascinating how many diseases these bacteria are linked to. So I wanted to highlight a couple of these as she discussed in her podcast, as well as diseases that I was already aware of before, before listening to the podcast later on.
I will introduce someone I have been working with closely who was recently diagnosed with cancer. It's pretty well established that periodontal pathogens and periodontal disease have a correlation to various forms of cancer. They contribute to chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes. It also contributes to autoimmune diseases, dementia, Alzheimer's, these pathogens, these bad bacteria.
periodontal disease increased your risk of contracting these diseases or if you have them of these diseases being worse. For example, diabetes. If the condition of the oral cavity is really bad, that can contribute to a difficulty in regulating blood glucose. which if you have too much glucose in the blood chronically, then that causes a widespread damage to the body. So not good. It is thought now,
Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (02:43.726)
through recent studies that we, that are really some of them, 2015, 2017 have established a correlation between, and almost a causation, not quite as really dangerous to say that one thing causes another in medicine and in science at large. However, what has been found is if a patient suffers from a stroke or, or heart attack, if that clot is, is taken and analyzed and if
where the clot broke free is analyzed. A tremendous amount of bad oral bacteria are found in the clot as well as the area of the blood vessel where the clot broke free. And so the theory behind that is that these bacteria can accumulate, build up, and actually up to 50 % of heart attacks and strokes may be stimulated or caused by oral bacteria, which is fascinating. And cardiologists really understand this well now. A lot of cardiologists are putting
more weight into periodontal disease and oral health at large because they understand that this is a major risk factor for their patients. So the dentistry is more about overall health and oral systemic health than it is about teeth. And this is something we have to move away from. I like to say that cavities aren't going to kill you. Sure, if you get a cavity, it causes an infected tooth that can cause a considerable problem. But just having cavities needing to get the
fillings or onlays or crowns or work is detrimental. It's a bummer, but it's the gum tissue and the oral microbiome that's going to cause significant long-term harm to your body. This is a long-term game. Bleeding gums are never normal. It's like if you were to press down on your fingernail and start bleeding from beneath your fingernail, that would be a concern, right? You'd probably schedule a call with your doctor, maybe even go to the ER. We should be really freaked out. Yet, I...
sometimes hear from patients and I hear in the community at large like, I'm just a bleeder. Yeah, I bleed every once in a while. Like it's normal for me. It's like, no, this is not normal. That is, that is literally a sign that these bacteria are breaking down the cellular wall between that protects the mouth from the blood vessels. And when this gets damaged, that means those bacteria that are releasing toxins that are doing damage in the mouth are then free to
Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (05:07.882)
enter the bloodstream and travel other places in the body. And this can contribute long term. We're learning that, for example, a bacteria called P. gingivalis is found in the brain of patients that pass from Alzheimer's dementia. And what we're seeing is those, those bacteria are getting into the brain, they're releasing toxins called gingipanes and that can affect the brain cells ability to use glucose, which primarily they rely on as the primary food source.
And so if they don't have food, then the cells start to die. We also see this bacteria gather in the heart and that can contribute to heart disease. So there's just all sorts of increasingly well, better established or more well established connections between these oral bacteria and disease. Some other really interesting things, infertility. There was a study done on men and looked at the tie between
periodontal health and the oral microbiome and the sperm count and sperm motility of these men that were having trouble conceiving a child with their partner. what was found was a tight connection between fertility and periodontal pathogens. And so these men, when the periodontal disease or the gum inflammation was treated within three months, 50 % of these men's partners were able to conceive. And 80 %
of these men had a significant increase in sperm count and motility by just treating the periodontal disease. Another interesting fact, breast cancer. There was a study done looking at the breast microbiome of women diagnosed with breast cancer. And again, many of these women were found to have a high amount of oral bacteria in the breast tissue, in the breast microbiome of those ducks, of those milk ducks, of those glands that have their own microbiome. And so just...
you know that correlation. We're seeing that in genitourinary cancers. We're seeing that in kidney cancers or kidney disease. We're seeing a lot of connection and presence of these oral bacteria in other parts of the body, which is that evidence that it is getting into the bloodstream and traveling and contributing to disease. Another well established connection is low birth weight. There was a study done in a part of the world that had a very high amount of women that gave
Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (07:31.576)
birth prematurely and whose babies had very low birth weights. And these women at large had some sort of gingival inflammation or periodontal disease. And when that was treated, and given the treatment was actually pretty simple, there was a decrease in adverse birth outcomes. When these pregnant populations, some of the people in the study, the pregnant mothers were treated, others were not, and these outcomes were different.
So the health of your mouth is so much greater than just not getting cavities. Okay, so dentistry is really important in making sure that your oral microbiome is healthy because every day you swallow about five grams of bacteria that goes into your gut and that can have an effect on the gut downstream. It plays a major role in your health. Okay.
Now I want to introduce you to someone I mentioned earlier. Hudson family, Anna and Erin, Hudson and their kids, they're some wonderful, wonderful people. And Erin was recently diagnosed with cancer in 2021. And we are currently working with him to help heal his oral microbiome so that his oral health is not a contributing factor to the cancer. They're approaching this with a functional approach, working with so many different providers.
to heal all areas systemically in his body. They are a local business here in Kuna, Idaho in the Treasure Valley where we live. The name of their company is Hudson Baking Co. And their bakery is the first farm-to-table bakery in Idaho. They make very unique sourdough. They source the wheat from the most sustainable sources and a wheat that is better than the genetically modified.
versions of wheat that are non-organic and they have a unique fermentation process that allows for better digestion of their bread. as a result, a lot of people that are gluten and very gluten sensitive or gluten intolerant are able to, from what they've told me, able to digest their bread okay and then enjoy these wheat based products because the gluten is fermented.
Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (09:53.198)
and is at large eliminated from their sourdough products. And it's just, it's terrific. We love their bakery. They're such a staple in the community. In 2021, when they opened their bakery, he was diagnosed with cancer and he fought it all the while building their business, pulling long hours alongside Anna and taking care of their clients and producing this wonderful products to our community. And this fall that cancer returns.
and is now spread to his kidney and his back. All the while he continues to work just so, so hard. He's an amazing person. He's a vet. The Hudson family is so important in our community. And this is a young family. Erin is a very young 35 years old. is 33 years old. They have a young family. In each holiday season, we've decided to support a family in need. And the Hudson family is the family we want to support.
this holiday season. his story is really near and to my heart because I grew up in a bakery. My father owned a natural bakery similar to Hudson Baking Co. until I was 17. And I saw firsthand how difficult it was for my father to start the bakery and how much work it required.
over those many years of my childhood and formative years in my teens. And I see Aaron in the same amount of work he's putting in. And it is hard, hard work. he, last time he had his cancer surgery, he was back at work the next day. They've raised just over $21,000 from our community, which has been amazing. And their goal is to hit $50,000 to be able to pay for his treatment. And they do not have health insurance. So they are...
They are funding it themselves as a family and and with the help of their community every contribution matters and I want to ask that you seriously consider contributing even a dollar to their fund if more five ten fifteen twenty dollars if We all donate a little bit. It will help them reach their goal. We have such a large community and I know
Dr. Craig Clayton | Restoration Dentistry (12:04.952)
that together we can get them to that $50,000 goal that will help him to pay for and fight their cancer to help this family. That is so important in the community that's doing such amazing things and a man that has served our country. really, just, I really just plead with you that you will consider donating any amount to this family's cause. We will put the link to their GoFundMe in our show notes.
Thank you so much in advance for your contributions. cannot wait to see that amount raised go up in their GoFundMe account. Let's do it. Let's get them into the 50K. So excited to see those funds get raised. Hope you enjoyed this mini episode today of Dentistry Disrupted. Remember dentistry is so much more than just the health of your teeth and so much more than just repairing teeth and not getting cavities.
your oral health will contribute to your long time life span and quality of health, quality of life.
