Periodontal disease (gingivitis)

-on the MP for 3 months. my pinkish-red, puffy gums are returning to a nice shade of light pink again and my gum recession is diminishing.~Elisabeth

-Healthy teeth and gums after 3-4 months on the MP–One of the pleasant surprises of this protocol is that my gums (which all my life have been problem gums….periodental work galore, itching, bleeding and pockets…no matter how much I brush or floss….have totally cleared up. They are better than they have ever been my whole life…..this makes me a very happy MPer. ~Aunt Diana

-I asked Matt a few days ago how his gums were doing as I hadn't heard him complain about them for a while. Beginning September 06 the gums on one side bled each time he cleaned his teeth and they felt a bit swollen. Sensitive toothpaste and an anti-inflammatory / anti-bacterial mouth gel helped ease Matt's gums. It is called “Difflam mouth gel” and contained the cetylpyridium chloride that Trevor recommended (1 mg/g) (was all I could get). Matt applied it 3 times per day, not recommended for use for more than 7 days- helped a lot and after a few weeks the problem subsided. Matt says his gums still feel a bit swollen but they don't bleed any more and they are not sore. He just seems to ignore it now. Will be interesting to see if that particular immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed. comes back. ~RobynO..Mom of Matt

-My dentist also told me that my gums are improving. ~Sharon

-Very early during MP I had jaw herxs, which resulted in regaining my cheek bones and dimples profile.I can chew stronger and longer and never have bleeding gums when cleaning my teeth. ~Grace

-2 months in phase 2. Good news from the periodontist who told me yesterday when I went for my 6 monthly gum clean that my gums are the best they have been since I had the surgery for gum disease nearly 6 years ago. I was quite surprised as I had not been as diligent as I usually am in their maintenance over the last 6 months. I must say the cleaning process wasn’t nearly as horrible as it usually is and my gums were not tender and bleeding afterwards. Thank you Trevor! ~McAleesa

-For the first time in more than 10 years I have perfect gums, no pockets - this cleared up in the last 6 months. My dentist and hygienist were shocked. They've rarely seen such dramatic improvement in such a short time. My dentist has a friend with CFS and she went home to check your website the same day she was so impressed. ~Sandiegojoy

-I have just returned from a periodonist appointment. Lasttime he told me my gums had improved incredibly. This time he couldn't find any evidence of infection. I had surgery approx 6 years ago for gum disease. It has been a constant struggle since then to keep the infection under control. I was warned that I would eventually lose two teeth….. Well I was told today that if my gums remain at this level I will not lose my teeth. Great hey!!! I had a good talk to the periodentist and asked him if he had lots of patients with so called auto immune diseases. He affirmed this. I told him gum disease was a symptom of these disorders and as he showed interest told him to check the website. I hope he does. Go Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. - ~Scarab (Alex)

–My dentist said what's left of my gums are in great shape and he is astounded how quickly that turned around (Now if ONLY I had gotten on the MP before I allowed them to cut away most of the gums around lower molars.

I'm no expert here but in my opinion your gums can and will heal on the MP. I couldn't tell you how much. I, like you had a lot of gum issues about a year before my official dx of sarc. I had 3-4 fructations, receding gum tissue and bone loss. Scalings, etc. didn't do any good and my dentist sent me to a periodontist to have gum surgery. This was about the time I got dx'ed with Sarc and I really felt it all had to be related (I prob had it for many years but about 6-7 months of trying to get fitter and taking lots of omega 3 via fish oil and flax seed oil really kicked off the Sarc ….now I know it was due to high vit d).

I asked the periodontist about it…he was convinced periodontal disease and did the surgery. He did however take a biopsy of some of the diseased gum tissue and low and behold, sarcoidosis. He sent me to a Oral Surgeon that he knew for a consult and I was told that periodontal disease would look exactly like Sarc to a periodontist (and vice-versa). At this point (about 4 years ago) I was told I would lose 4-5 molars over the next several years.

Interestingly enough, after starting the MP, the gum tissue's have gotten healthy (the little that remains :( ) and have stabalized. I have 1 tooth in particular that was very mobile…it still is mobile but less so than before (of course, a lot of the root is sticking out so not much remains).

If I had it all to do over again (hindsight is 20/20), I'd try 6 months on the MP before I let someone cut away on my gums….I might very well have had a lot less tissue removed. I know due to the gum loss I'd already experienced that it would not have returned completely well…but I bet I would have a lot more than I have now. ~Robertrr

-All of my life my teeth and gums have been an issue for me. I think every tooth in my head has a root canaland a crown.. and most are only there because of the good dentists I have had since a child. When I was 20 I started to have gum problems and needed extensive curretage by a periodentist…expensive, time consuming and not fun. I could probably pay off the national debt if I had the money my teeth and gums have cost me.

My gums were under control at the start of the MP, but there were several areas that were borderline and needed constant attention….special toothbrush, water pic, dental floss and many trips to the dentist but I still had one area that was inflamed and never seemed to clear up.

Was I surprised…that six or so months into the protocol all of a sudden I realized my gums were the healthiest they have ever been in my life. I now have no pockets, my receding gum line has become “unreceded”…no more bleeding gums, they have never been so healathy…This pointed out to me how powerful the MP is and that it really is killing bacteria in areas I didn't even know I had any.

I believe now that all of my dental problems were most likely due to CWD bacteria. ~Aunt Diana

-Prior and early on while on the MP, I had major periodontal disease and had been recommended to have extensive surgery. I asked to have any procedures delayed for 6 months. On re-evaluation, I had only two small pockets which were treated with laser surgery. My gums have remained healthy since and regression apparent prior has now resolved back to normal. Also, my calculus or tartar build-up is much, much less.

You can expect some aggravation of symptoms especially if you have had any infected tooth requiring a root canal or deep filling. Once started on minocyclineBacteriostatic antibiotic used by Marshall Protocol patients., the gum inflammationThe complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli such as pathogens or damaged cells. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue. and infection will improve. The tooth pain can wax and wane throughout the ramping up phase of the antibiotics but tend to be transient. ~Greg Blaney, MD

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Gingivitis is a bacterial infection and presumably may therefore cause granulatomous inflammation. Even my dentist was puzzled by the “abscess” that has come on gone around a frontal crown for 15 years! Abscesses don't recede (he said). But maybe if it were sarcoid granulatomous inflammation from a bacterial infection it would ebb and flow. ..Trevor..

Dental Plaque

Dental Plaque is a sticky film of mucus and bacteria which collects around and between teeth. Accumulation of dental plaque is the major cause of tooth decay, gum or periodontal disease (gingivitis).

Dental plaque is exactly the sort of biofilm bacterial colonies you are trying to kill off. If you have a weakness in this area, due to a reduction of saliva, you will need to be extra-vigilent with frequent oral hygiene.

The amount or rate of dental plaque formation will not cause periodonal disease as long as you have the plaque removed regularly. Plaque is hard to see because it is whitish colored, like teeth. Disclosing tablets or an ultraviolet plaque light can show you if you are removing plaque effectively to prevent gingivitis.

Periodontal disease is a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis involves deposits (also called plaque) of fatty material on the inner lining of an arterial wall. Gingivitis (inflamed gums caused by a buildup of dental plaque) may coorelate with the development of plaques in the arteries (atherosclerosis).

The MP is not the cause of increased dental plaque but it is the answer to cardiovascular disease prevention. The primary concern should be eliminating intracellular bacteria that trigger inflammation which is strongly implicated in atherosclerosis.

Members experiences

In fact, I had a problematic tooth, constant low grade swelling which all dentists I saw said could be an issue but to wait and see. After being in phase 2 for a couple of months during which it would get painful for periods, it now has no swelling and my gums have been in the best condition in my life. ~G.Blaney, MD

I too, like your husband have had very bad issues with what was diagnosed as periodontal disease. This was right at the same time as my diagnosis for Sarc, imagine that. I ended up having gum surgery which I wish I wouldn't have had…but that was before I got on the MP. The gum surgery resulted in a biopsy that showed oral sarcoidosis (and an oral surgeon told me that to someone not looking for Sarc as I had told my dentist about it ahead of time, it would have just looked like gum disease). As it turns out, shortly after gum surgery, I convinced my Rheumy at the time to NOT do another round or prednisone, but treat me with at least minocycline (since he wouldn't go for the benicar part of the MP). My results were that the minocycline by itself really helped my gum issues. I suspect if I had just gone on minocycline, without the treatment, it would have improved the chance to save my gums. However, to totally cure the TH1 disease in the gum tissue, I believe one has to go on the MP.

My Rheumy had me do 100MG 2X per day…after figuring out that i needed to “pulse” the mino, I did so at 100 mg QOD. That actually started me herxing and convinced me that the MP was the way to go. Another 16 months and I finally swirched docs and joined the MP (18 months ago). Too bad for my poor gums….I will lose at least 4 teeth where the gums were cut away so much the exposed roots are as large as the tooth themselves. ~Robertrr

Also, I no longer produce tartar at the rate I did previously. I am confident that many of these chronically infected root canal teeth will not need to be extracted after adequate treatment of the Th1 condition and that any that are truly a problem will blow up and obviously be extracted at that time. ~G.Blaney, MD