What’s New in Dental Technology and How Can It Improve Your Overall Health?

Since childhood, Dr. Jay Knudsen was attracted to the dental profession because of its “cool tools.” Now, as a doctor of dental surgery at Great East Dental, in Springvale, Knudsen prides himself on offering fast and accurate long-term care, and gets to take advantage of the latest available technology to treat gum disease, perform root canals and extractions, and place implants. “We have all this great technology without having to go to a big city,” he says. “Because of it, we can take the focus from the teeth to the gums to the overall issues that are connected to your oral health.”

How does a patient’s oral health connect to their overall health?

Inflammation is the cause of a majority of our diseases. It is directly related to coronary artery disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and dementia. That last one is huge. As the baby boomers are getting up in their years, we’re hearing a lot more about not just Alzheimer’s, but other forms of dementia. The one thing that I can help with that other doctors don’t look at is inflammation inside the mouth. 

What causes inflammation in the mouth?

When a hygienist goes around poking your gums saying numbers, they are doing periodontal charting and measuring the pockets between a tooth and your gum tissue. When we brush our teeth, we can only clean 2 millimeters below our gumline. So if you have a four, there’s a 2-millimeter band of bacteria that never gets touched. That band of bacteria grows and eventually turns into calculus that the body senses as a foreign object, similar to a sliver in your finger. When you have a sliver, there is inflammation. When you have buildup below your gumline, you also have inflammation. 

How do the latest technologies help treat periodontal disease?

The traditional way is with a scalpel, but we do periodontal therapy painlessly with lasers. The laser sterilizes the pocket and kills all the bacteria. We don’t have to cut away the gums. We also genetically test saliva so we know exactly what each patient’s individual bacteria is. It’s not a blanket treatment for everybody.

What other advancements do you take advantage of?

We have a three-dimensional CAT-scan machine in the office that allows me to do a surgery on the computer before I even sit down with a patient. It’s a three-dimensional picture where I can dissect down to the millimeter, just to make sure I’m not nearing nerves or arteries. I don’t want any surprises. We also use an intraoral scanner to fit patients for night guards, retainers, and crowns. I don’t need to use impression materials anymore. We just send the imaging off digitally, and it comes back fitting perfectly. 

What would you say to someone who has been avoiding the dentist?

Don’t put it off. Even if you don’t have bleeding gums, you may have periodontal disease. Patients are scared that they’re going to be judged by the dentist. An old-school dentist would shame. They were a different generation. I’m here to manage your problems with you. Whether you’ve never been to a dentist before, or you’ve been and you had a poor experience, or you’re someone who comes every four months for a cleaning, you’ll get the same respect from us.

Dr. Jay Knudsen is currently welcoming new patients to Great East Dental, where a paid-fee service model allows him to give patients the fastest, least painful, and most effective long-term sustainable repair for the mouth. To learn more about the practice’s large, new, and very clean space, and book an initial consultation on whatever timing works best for your life, visit mainesmiles.com. 460 Main St., Springvale.  207-324-6182.