I agree with you, the influence of periodontal problems on systemic health has probably been way underestimated, and dentists and oral surgeons are getting much more aggressive.
I talked with my dentist briefly about Periostat a while back. The feeling was that my perio problems were not yet "bad enough" for an oral therapy and that they wanted to try local antibiotic pellets and an aggressive cleaning regimen for me to follow at home. I have been loaded down with all sorts of gadgets to induce me to make more of an effort, which, I confess, up to now my intentions were better than my actions. Now I have to make the effort. We shall see. My followup is next month. If in spite of my diligence I do not show an improvement then maybe an oral therapy (and oral surgeon) will be the next step.
As to perio/teeth problem links with MS, I didn't mean to imply that they were universally observed, and I was expecting someone to make a note of MS coinciding with great teeth and gums!
One thing that does seem pretty common with MS, though, is that it is linked with inflammation. That could be from an infection, from wound healing from surgery or an injury, or something else. In my case, I focused on my mouth as a source for both chronic inflammation and a nasty abcess. I could certainly have some other issues (like gut problems since solved with avoiding gluten), but teeth are known issues for me. There has been interesting periodontal studies showing elevated inflammatory cytokines in blood of people with perio problems, plus an acute spike in inflammatory markers following dental work and teeth cleaning. I believe studies have shown that a prophylactic antibiotic (as a single high dose) taken before dental work reduced the markers for inflammation - I would have to double check my memory on that one though.
These studies made me want to take prophylactic antibiotics before any serious work on my teeth, given my personal history. The neuro was totally nonsupportive, but I found a non-neuro who was and wrote a prescription. I take the same recommended dosage for people with heart valve issues - I think it is 2 g amoxicillin single dose before dental work. This dose likely zaps the bacteria that get in the blood stream following dental work, and therefore indirectly reduces resulting acute inflammation - it is different than Periostat. So far I've had no relapses (it has been over 2 years) in spite of continued dental work. Perhaps it is all totally unrelated to MS, or perhaps it is related. I don't know. I felt it was worth doing, given what I had read about inflammation relating to dental procedures.
I am interested in where you heard/read that doctors are being told to not to prescribe Mino alone. I too was very distressed to find out there was no continuation of a mino-only arm in any further trials, in spite of its promise that it might have been at least as good as CRABs, with fewer adverse effects and a much lower cost. It would also take research into new areas.
