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| By Sarah M. Corigliano Assistant Managing Editor EAST LONGMEADOW Dr. Gregory G. Zirakian of East Longmeadow Family Dental Center last week announced that he has authored a dental health brochure that is available to anyone in the community, even if they are not his patients. The publication, a field guide for children's dental health, is based on months of Zirakian's research and allows families and parents to identify normal and abnormal dental events in a child's life and preventative and treatment measures that can be taken. Zirakian said only 55 percent of Americans see a dentist regularly. He said this number is bothersome to him, as he said dental health is important for a person's overall health, and the health of a developing child. From pregnancy to mature adulthood, Zirakian said it is important for people to have positive, preventative experiences with a dentist in order to ensure lifelong dental and overall health, and to save money from expensive procedures done on unhealthy teeth and mouths. He talked about the correlation between plaque on teeth, which is caused by bacteria, and plaque that can collect in the arteries, which can clog the arteries. "The same plaque that accumulates in the mouth, the bacteria you get in that accumulation will go into the arteries, attach with other bacteria and cause plaque to get thicker and thicker," he explained. He said this is important to note for people who have diabetes who may be more susceptible to heart disease, especially if they have poor dental health. "Diabetes is a disease that affects all tissues," he said. "If gums are bleeding or tender, if there is bad breath ... [diabetics] are more susceptible if their sugar level is way out of wack they are more prone to fungal infections." Zirakian continued, "It's the whole health system I find that people take better care of their cars than their mouths and not just regular people, but physicians, too." To learn more about the steps to healthy teeth and gums anyone may request the free brochure by calling East Longmeadow Family Dental Center at 525-7819 or they may stop in the office at 200 North Main St. (it can be accessed off of Westwood Avenue). |