Dr. Renata Olejnik DDS

10/26/2025

ORAL BACTERIA CAN TRAVEL TO THE HEART 🫀

Recent research has revealed a striking connection — bacteria commonly found in dental plaque have been detected inside the arteries and even heart tissue of patients who suffered heart attacks.

How does this happen?
When gums are inflamed or infected, bacteria can enter the bloodstream through microscopic openings in the gum tissue. Once circulating, they may trigger inflammation inside blood vessels, accelerating vascular injury and contributing to heart problems.

This doesn’t mean oral bacteria directly cause heart disease — but their presence highlights how closely oral and cardiovascular health are intertwined. Ignoring gum health can silently add to systemic risks far beyond the mouth.

Maintaining healthy gums through regular brushing, flossing, and professional cleanings isn’t just about preventing tooth loss — it could also play a role in protecting the heart.

🧠 Sources:
Lockhart PB, et al. (2012). Periodontal Disease and Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease: Does the Evidence Support an Independent Association? Circulation.
Tonetti MS & Van D**e TE (2013). Periodontitis and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Consensus Report. J Clin Periodontol.

09/29/2025

In 1846, dentistry made history. Dr. William T.G. Morton, a dentist from Boston, became the first to publicly demonstrate anesthesia using ether during a dental procedure. Until that moment, patients had no choice but to undergo tooth extractions and even surgeries while fully awake, often in unbearable pain. Morton’s bold step marked the beginning of modern painless dentistry—and reshaped medicine itself.

This discovery did far more than ease suffering. It opened the door to safer, longer, and more advanced treatments in both dentistry and surgery. Anesthesia became the foundation for procedures we now consider routine, from wisdom tooth removal to complex oral and maxillofacial surgery. What started in a dental chair spread across hospitals worldwide, proving that dentistry was not only about teeth but about driving medical innovation.

Today, nearly 180 years later, anesthesia in dentistry has become remarkably safe and precise. From quick-acting local anesthetics to advanced sedation techniques, patients can undergo treatments without fear or trauma. Next time you sit in the dental chair for a comfortable, pain-free procedure, remember—it all began with a dentist’s groundbreaking contribution to science.

04/23/2025

Emerging research suggests that Alzheimer’s disease may be linked to an unexpected culprit — gum disease.

A study discovered the presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis, a bacteria responsible for chronic periodontitis, in the brains of deceased Alzheimer’s patients.

Researchers found that when mice were infected with the bacteria, it colonized their brains and triggered the production of amyloid beta, a protein commonly associated with Alzheimer’s. This evidence strengthens the hypothesis that the disease could have infectious origins rather than being solely a neurodegenerative disorder.

The study also revealed that toxic enzymes from the bacteria were present in individuals who had Alzheimer's-related brain changes but had not yet been diagnosed with dementia, suggesting the infection may begin years before symptoms appear.

This discovery opens the door to new potential treatments. A pharmaceutical company, Cortexyme, developed a compound called COR388, which showed promise in reducing both bacterial infection and amyloid beta accumulation in animal trials. While human trials are needed to confirm its effectiveness, the study underscores the importance of oral hygiene in brain health. Scientists remain cautiously optimistic, emphasizing that with no new dementia treatments in over 15 years, investigating all possible causes is crucial. While more research is needed, the link between gum disease and Alzheimer’s highlights a simple yet vital message: taking care of your teeth might help protect your brain in the long run.

Learn more: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aau3333

02/26/2025

Tooth loss is a real evolutionary phenomenon — it's happening to humans.

Human faces are becoming shorter, and it's causing us to lose our teeth.

Due to changes in our diet our faces are shrinking, and our smaller jaws mean there is less room for teeth.

As a result, most babies are now being born without wisdom teeth.

According to Dr Teghan Lucas, of Flinders University in Adelaide, this indicates that humans are still evolving — and at a rapid rate.

Dr. Lucas and a team of scientists discovered that people are undergoing a kind of "micro-evolution" where evolutionary changes can be noticed over a short period of time. Some of the changes also include weaker jaws, which is likely due to our dependence on fire and processed food more than ever before.

Scientists also found that some people are being born with additional bones in their arms and legs, as well as an extra artery in their arm. They also found that some people are born with abnormal connections of two or more bones in their feet.

The research is published in the Journal of Anatomy. However, this isn't the only study to reach these conclusions.

Learn more:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-58565-8

10/17/2024

Our office is expanding and we are looking for a part time dental assistant and hygienist in Troy.
Please contact us at 248-689-1343

Call now to connect with business.

09/24/2024

Humans have been performing dentistry since 7000 BCE:

Dentistry is one of the world’s oldest medical professions, dating back more than 9,000 years.

The earliest records of dentistry date to 7000 BCE

By 5000 BCE, Sumerian texts mentioned tooth decay, attributing it to "tooth worms"— an idea that wasn't debunked until the 1700s.

In 1840, the first dental college opened in the U.S., soon followed by the formation of the American Dental Association.

Harvard founded the first university-affiliated dental school in 1867. Meanwhile, dental innovations emerged, such as Colgate’s mass-produced toothpaste in 1873 and toothbrushes soon after.

Interestingly, good oral hygiene wasn’t widely practiced in the U.S. until after World War II, when soldiers brought back brushing habits from abroad.

09/21/2024

08/25/2024

Endodontic Symposium 🦷
Hands on - practicing broken endo file retrieval .

08/25/2024

A new type of microscopic organism has been found in the human gut.

These newly discovered organisms are called obelisks, and they are made up of tiny rings of genetic material. Obelisks can create their own proteins that are entirely new to science. The team named their proteins “oblins.” Scientists are still figuring out what these proteins do and how obelisks interact with other organisms. Obelisks require a microbial host cell for replication. The researchers identified one potential host for obelisks, a bacterium that is mostly found in our mouths. This bacterium is known as Streptococcus sanguinis, and it’s commonly found in dental plaque. It’s still a mystery where else obelisks are found, what they do to their host, and how they spread. Up until now, obelisks went unnoticed, and could be an entirely new class of life forms. The discovery raises intriguing questions about the role of obelisks in human health, whether they might be harmful, beneficial, or merely passive inhabitants of our microbial ecosystem. There are trillions of tiny organisms in our gut that generally keep us healthy. However, if something upsets this balance, it could make us sick with conditions like diabetes and mood disorders. If obelisks prove to be parasitic, they might harm beneficial gut bacteria, disrupting the delicate ecosystem within the gut and potentially leading to health issues. Conversely, if they have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts, obelisks might contribute to the stability and diversity of the gut microbiome, possibly offering new avenues for therapeutic interventions.

04/27/2024

Educating kids on healthy smiles 🦷