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Periodontal gum disease is insidious. It is an infection of the gums that starts out as plaque, an opaque film on the teeth that hardens to form tartar. As tartar accumulates, it harbors bacteria that attack the soft tissue around the gums. This is the early stage of gum disease known as gingivitis. Left untreated, gingivitis becomes periodontitis which ultimately destroys the tissue surrounding your teeth AND the bone that holds your teeth in place. The result: lost teeth.

Except for bad breath and gums that bleed, there are very few early warning signals. Gum disease advances silently, o

The eye doctor may recommend strabismus surgery to help align your child's eyes. During surgery, certain eye muscles are adjusted. This helps the muscles better control how the eye moves. Often, surgery is done in addition to other treatments. In most cases, children who have strabismus surgery go home the same day.

HOW SURGERY WORKS
Strabismus surgery is a safe, common operation. Be assured, the eyeball isn't removed from its socket. The eye doctor simply changes the placement or length of an eye muscle. This small change can pull the eye into proper alignment. The two most common method

Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is currently a breast cancer treatment technique that delivers radiation treatment at the same time as lumpectomy surgery. The radiation dose is delivered to an exposed tumor bed while surrounding healthy tissue is moved aside and spared from high dose radiation. The entire dose of radiation needed often can be given in one treatment, which may take from 20 to 60 minutes. This technology is being used in Europe, Asia, and in United States. Patients who participated in trials of breast IORT had low-grade, invasive or intraductal, early-stage breast cance

A woman’s health needs change and evolve during her lifetime. At Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Center, it is not only a physical location for care, it is a continuing philosophy of care dedicated to advancing the health and well-being of women.

We understand the importance of providing you with the most up-to-date medical care and expertise to keep you, a woman, healthy throughout the decades. Our highly qualified OB/GYN physicians and nurses can take you from family planning and pre-conception counseling through the emotional and physical changes pregnancy can bring so you can have a po

Healthy white blood cells help you fight infections by making antibodies that recognize and attack germs. Multiple myeloma is When cancer forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell, the condition is called multiple myeloma. These cancerous plasma cells accumulate in a person’s bone marrow and overpower healthy blood cells. Instead of producing helpful antibodies like normal plasma cells, the cancerous cells produce abnormal proteins that may lead to various complications.

The good news is that treatment for multiple myeloma isn't always needed right away. If a slow-growing mu

A corneal transplant is the replacement of damaged or diseased cornea with a healthy cornea in order to restore vision. Corneal transplants are usually needed when the cornea is scarred or swollen beyond the repair of other treatments.

ABOUT CORNEAL TRANSPLANT SURGERY
The cornea was one of the first parts of the body to be transplanted and corneal transplants remain one of the most common and most successful of all transplant procedures. During the procedure, part of a cloudy or warped cornea is replaced with a graft from a healthy cornea, which comes from an eye bank. Since a cornea heal

Spinal surgery is a serious subject. One of the most common back procedures involves fusion, in which two or more vertebrae (the bones that stack one on top of the other to form the spinal column) are joined together, or fused. Fusion is considered an appropriate treatment for certain people with degenerative disc disease or spondylolisthesis.

Spinal fusion has been successfully performed on hundreds of thousands of people. The surgery literally fuses vertebrae together, which limits their normal mobility. Often bone grafts or hardware (rods, plates, screws) are required to join the verteb

A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye that affects your vision. Most cataracts are age-related. By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had eye cataract surgery. A cataract can occur in either or both eyes. It cannot be spread from one eye to the other. The lens is a clear part of the eye that helps to focus light, or an image, on the retina. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. In a normal eye, light passes through the transparent lens to the retina. Once it reaches the retina, light is changed into nerve signals that ar

The gastric bypass procedure formerly was the most performed weight loss procedure in the United States but has recently been overtaken by the banding procedures. It is however widely considered as the gold standard because of its exceptional results. It was first performed in the late 1960s as an open procedure and then laparoscopically since the late 1990s.

How Does Gastric Bypass Work?
During the gastric bypass procedure a large portion of the existing stomach is excised leaving a pouch that is approximately 15 to 30cc in volume to act as the reservoir for food consumed. By removing a

TrueBeam is the latest innovation from Varian in linear accelerator technology. It employs many improvements to the standard linear accelerator that not only make treatment more efficient, but also improve patient comfort, and treatment tolerability.

TrueBeam accelerates patient treatment by “intelligent” automation, imaging, positioning and reduction of the number of steps needed for treatment up to 5-fold. It enhances patient convenience by shortening treatment periods because of higher dose rates. For example, a standard IMRT treatment that normally lasts 10-15 minutes can be completed

Glaucoma, known as the silent threat, is commonly associated with slow, progressive loss of peripheral vision. Glaucoma is painless and usually not noticed by the patient. It is a leading cause of blindness, and risk increases with age. Regular testing is important for identifying those at risk and monitoring glaucoma treatment plans. There are many types of glaucoma – some with genetic predisposition and others without – including:

Open Angle Glaucoma
Very common (most common in the United States). Risk factors include race, family history, hypertension, diabetes, appearance of the optic

Retinal tear is the most common cause of retinal detachment. Other torn retina causes are raction from diabetes and spontaneous leakage behind retina. Retinal tear occurs due to traction on the retina due to a vitreous gel that has become liquefied and mobile in some regions and still a membrane or strand like material adherent to the periphery. Patients may often see new flashes of light or floaters prior to a tear or detached retina. These signs should be warning to patients that they need to be examined by a retina specialist for a dilated eye exam. A laser treatment and limitation of acce

Advanced dental technology makes diagnoses more accurate and treatment more efficient, comfortable for patients and more effective. At Crescent City Smiles, we use low-dose digital X-rays, intraoral cameras, Panorex panoramic X-rays, electric hand pieces and rotary endodontics. We also use:

Diode Laser Dentistry
Imagine modern dentistry without the shots, drilling or fear and you have laser dentistry. Diode laser technology is commonly used in dentistry and allows Dr. Rivet to sculpt your smile and shape target soft tissues without pain. Diode laser dentistry is just as effective, but wit

The Gamma Knife is a very precise and sophisticated tool used to treat malignant and benign intracranial lesions and tumors. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is “surgery without a scalpel” and employs 192 small radiation therapy beams functioning as a “virtual scalpel” to converge on and accurately treat small areas of the brain. There is no need for general anesthesia and no surgical incision when patients are treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Gamma Knife radiosurgery is used to successfully treat conditions including brain metastasis, meningiomas, arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neural

Healthy beginnings are very important to your child’s future, and your children are our very special patients. As you guide your child from baby-care visits through adolescence, we look forward to partnering with you healthy-child check-ups, routine immunizations and vaccines, developmental tracking, nutritional counseling, school, camp and sports checkups, “working papers” physicals, adolescent well visits and sick visits, etc. We know that you will have confidence in the ability of our board-certified physicians, nurses and staff to not only meet but exceed your expectations as together we

Our 14 private infusion rooms have comfortable reclining chairs, flat screen TVs, Wi-Fi access, and experienced nurses and assistants that are available to provide a caring environment to help assist every patient with their treatment needs. At our state of art infusion center we provide not only the standard chemotherapy regimens, but also the newest monoclonal antibodies, immunotherapy, hormonal therapy, hydration, and treatments for anemia and other hematology disorders. Our patients receive attentive personal care from a compassionate, experienced group of medical oncology professionals w

Over 71 million American adults have high cholesterol levels, which make them twice as likely to develop heart disease. Luckily, high cholesterol levels aren’t a life sentence, and there’s a lot you can do to lower your cholesterol. At Eastern Shore Heart Center, cardiologist Dr. Craig Peterson understands the risks associated with high cholesterol levels and works with his patients in Fairhope, Daphne, Point Clear, Foley and Prichard in Mobile County to bring them within normal levels. To learn more, call or book an appointment online.

The aorta is the largest artery in your body, and it carries oxygen-rich blood pumped out of, or away from your heart. Your aorta runs through your chest, where it is called the thoracic aorta. Once it reaches your abdomen, it is called the abdominal aorta. The abdominal aorta supplies blood to the lower part of the body. In the abdomen, just below the navel, the aorta splits into two branches, called the iliac arteries, which carry blood to each leg.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm, or AAA, is a balloon-like bulge in the abdominal aorta. The bulge forms a weak spot in the wall of the aorta.

Skin naturally loses elasticity over time, which can cause skin to collect above and below the eyelid. Also known as blepharoplasty, eyelid surgery reduces bagginess under the eye or sagging above the eye from excess skin. Blepharoplasty is usually done for cosmetic reasons, but can also aid in improving vision for those whose sagging upper eyelids impair their vision.

Ptosis, which is drooping of the eyelids, can occur in adults and children. Children with droopy eyelids should be evaluated for amblyopia or “lazy eye.” Amblyopia is a condition in which vision does not develop properly in

If you are injured at work, it affects your ability to provide for yourself and your family. You need help with your Workers’ Compensation claim as well as expert treatment and compassionate care that will put you at ease, reduce your pain and get you safely back to work and life.

The skilled, compassionate team at University Spine Center wants to help. We do it through a unique, personalized team treatment approach where all five board-certified physicians blend minimally invasive spine surgery, medical management and pain management techniques with the latest therapeutic options and medi