Heartburn / Acid Reflux

SORRY FOR THE SHOCKINGLY GROSS PHOTO, BUT...
sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words.





Acid Reflux, commonly called "Heartburn", is no small matter if you suffer from it weekly or daily.

It can ruin your teeth and the soft tissue in your throat and esophagus!


HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING

Reflux is actually a normal occurrence in most people, but in others it can have irreversible consequences. The difference between someone with acid reflux and someone with normal reflux is that the liquid from the stomach contains more acid and it remains in the esophagus for a longer period of time.

Acid is more likely to remain in the esophagus longer when the reflux occurs at night. This is because the person is lying down, so the acid is less likely to flow back down into the stomach, causing burning or damage to the esophagus. When acid reflux only occurs every now and then, it's normal. When it occurs on a regular basis or two or more times a week, this could be a more chronic condition of acid reflux disease. This is the situation with the teeth in the photo above. This gentleman sleeps on his left side only so the acid from his nighttime reflux is just bathing his teeth all night long.

You may have heard of a term called "pH" that is used to describe how acidic any substance can be. It turns out that stomach acid has a pH of 1.5.  To put this in perspective -  the pH of Vinegar is 2.5 and Battery acid is just above zero - so our stomach acid is somewhere between the two.

If you have Heartburn, that acid is traveling up your esophagus and may be reaching your mouth. This is constantly bathing both in a pH that will weaken any tissue not designed to withstand the insult.

With your teeth, we will see increased cavities, gum problems and irreversible wearing away of the enamel - molecule by molecule.

With your esophagus, the soft tissue changes can lead to very serious health problems and even esophageal cancer. So the situation should not be ignored.

It's best to discuss frequent Heartburn with BOTH your doctor and your dentist.

FOR A LOT MORE GOOD INFORMATION ON THIS SUBJECT, CHECK OUT THIS WEBSITE..

http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/

** Be sure to scroll down the page to risk factors, life-style changes, medicines and other tests.


PLEASE CALL IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO EVALUATE YOUR DENTAL SITUATION FOR POSSIBLE PROBLEMS FROM FREQUENT HEARTBURN. We take your total health seriously.