Autoimmune Diseases Can Affect Oral Health

The same saliva that helps us digest foods also works to clear food particles from our teeth, helping fight mouth germs, protect tooth enamel and, overall, prevent tooth decay and gum (periodontal) disease. Unfortunately, diseases like Sjogren’s syndrome, Lupus, and Mikulicz’s syndrome can cause your immune system to mistakenly attack your own cells and tissues, affecting the glands that are responsible for producing that important saliva (salivary glands).

Recently, a patient came to us with a severely decayed mouth, primarily because of one such debilitating autoimmune disease. She said she hadn’t smiled in a decade because of her significantly damaged teeth and gum tissue that negatively affected her both personally and professionally.

SFCPID and Team Save Her Smile

After careful planning and teamwork with other clinical professionals (please see below), we extracted her teeth and placed “immediate” implants with temporary teeth the same day. Our patient left our office with a great smile and functional teeth that day!  After healing, her dentist, Dr. Ted Field, finessed the esthetics and delivered permanent zirconia restorations.

Before Dental Implants

After Dental Implants

Her follow-up email sums up the treatment and brings us much joy:

“Dr. Ganeles and his staff treated me with kindness and respect. Dr. Ganeles performed the surgeries and was professional, accommodating, and truly amazing throughout the entire process. I couldn’t offer a higher recommendation, honestly.  My new smile is better than I could have imagined. I have my self-confidence back. I am back into classes and a career that I love. There are no foods that I must avoid anymore, and there is no longer any pain. It is difficult to describe with words how important this has been to me. I am healthier now, my smile looks amazing, and I am not ashamed when I look into the mirror for the first time in over a decade. To say that I am grateful would be an understatement.”

Take a look at our “Smile Gallery” and some patient testimonial videos for just a few examples of the thousands of smiles we’ve enhanced, and make your appointment today! Despite the negative effects of some diseases, we can often help save natural teeth with regenerative procedures, or, if necessary, replace teeth with fully functional, comfortable and attractive dental implants. Referrals from other professionals are always welcomed but are not required. 

(Note: credit for this case and our huge thanks also extend to Dr. Ted Field (final restorations), and the technician/lab (Jack Marano, Absolute Dental Services). It is well known that teams outperform individuals for complex tasks. Sophisticated dentistry like this requires a broad range of refined abilities, facilities, supporting staff, technology and knowledge that is virtually impossible for a single dentist to acquire or stay current with. By outsourcing to others like this we reliably achieve superior results with exceptional precision, communication and teamwork.