A Periodontist Discusses Gum Disease and Its Prevention with Dr. William Levine

What happens is the body has a very active defense system which helps prevent infection from the mouth penetrating below through alongside the root and, and causing infections. But sometimes when people don't brush their teeth that often, or when people don't take excellent care of their teeth, that bacterial infection or different traumas or different systemic conditions may impact on the functionality of that defense system. And what it is is it starts to act faster and faster and faster trying to prevent this disease. And it goes into an overdrive, much like our computers when you open up too many windows and all of a sudden it freezes. So it's not that the computer's not working, it's just that it's not doing what you want it to do. And that's what's happening in that gum disease. The prevention system, the defense system actually begins to function, but it begins to function inappropriately. We call that a dysregulated system.