It could happen to you.

On October 23, 2008 on the National Television show, The View, Whoopi Goldberg confesses her dental disaster! You can watch the original clip on You Tubehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-t7Npdwi8c .

A partial transcript :

Whoopi: Welcome to “The View” and boy am I glad to be back

Group: We missed you and you look better today

W: I feel much better today, emergency gum surgery

G: You had the chipmunk cheek

W: Yeah I had the chipmunk cheek and whenever you get an infection in your face and it alters the way you look.. when I came into work and people said  “HEY” “How ARE you?” And my face was out to here and I’m not feeling as good as I should!

G: Her face was so swollen, she couldn’t even look down to dial the phone.

And you tried not to have the look of horror on your face

W: I looked like I got beat up and I said when I found out all the stuff going on in my mouth, take care of your teeth, and I’m embarrassed to say this to people, I have great dental insurance and I did noth9ing with it. For years and years I left my mouth go and I am paying the price. I am losing teeth because I am losing bone and I brought this on myself and I could have prevented it and you mouth is connected to your entire system, to your immune system. If you do not take care of your mouth you are not taking care of your bodhy and your entire body and it will kill you. I don’t know whether you guys saw this but about a week ago they linked your mouth health to heart health

G: And I have a good friend , a family friend who is a dentist and he said that for the first time physicians are connecting.. and cardiologists are speaking to dentists and physicians talking about oral care and there is a good conversation going on between the two medical fields and this is great.

W: And I’m begging all of our watchers and listeners and everybody and everybody in the audience, I know you’re scared because you think, you know, Listen you know if you are of a certain age we didn’t go to dentists who cared about the way you felt. They went in your mouth and drrrrillled and no numb and no sweetness. Dentistry has changed so much that really, they can do it they can take care of it. It will be easier to teach your kids and your grand kids to go. I’m begging you save your own life. Don’t do what I have done because I am going to lose my teeth!! And when it happens I will let you know what’s going on because they will be fake in my mouth.

G: And there’s no tooth fairy for adults, you know there’s no tooth fairy for adults.

The ZT4BG project

When Whoopi Goldberg revealed to the world on The View that she was about to lose teeth thanks to gum disease, a long time silentnational epidemic took center stage.

ZT4BG stands for Zero Tolerance for Bleeding Gums.  We’ve created a separate website that brings to the fore the increasingly recognized connection between infection in the mouth and the entire rest of the body.  This is a first on the web.

Heart disease.

Stroke.

High blood pressure.

Diabetes.

Arthritis.

Pre-term/low birthweight babies.

It’s serious!

There are sections for the general public as well as medical/dental professionals.  This is a great reference for your physician.