The Importance of Oral Health
Regular dental visits are about more than maintaining your aesthetic appeal. A dental exam can also uncover a lot about your whole-body health, including revealing your risk level for chronic disease.
The research suggests that mouth health is a mirror to your internal condition. Chances are if your oral health is good, so is the condition of your body overall. Poor dental hygiene habits can affect not only your teeth and gums; it can threaten your entire well-being. Studies have also proven that good oral health can even prevent some chronic diseases from developing.
Gum Disease and Health Complications
A link has been found between gum disease and common health conditions such as heart disease and stroke. Pregnant women with gum disease are at a higher risk of delivering low birth weight babies, pre-term.
In addition, over 90 percent of all systemic diseases display oral manifestations including dry mouth, persistent gum problems, swelling, and ulcers. Such health conditions include:
- Diabetes
- Leukemia
- Oral cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Heart disease
- Kidney disease
Fortunately, most people do have routine dental check-ups making their dentist the first line of defense against worsening health problems when detected at the early stages.
Poor Oral Health = Poor Overall Health
Proper dental care is the key to good oral health. If you don’t have good oral hygiene practices, you are putting your overall health condition at risk. You may develop any of the following bodily issues:
- Mouth or Facial Pain – This type of pain generally occurs because of a gum infection that may lead to tooth loss. Gingivitis is the first stage of gum disease and the advanced stage, periodontal disease, affects more than 75 percent of American residents.
- Heart and Major Organ Complications – An oral infection can travel to major organs. For instances, bacterial endocarditis that enters the bloodstream through the mouth can cause heart inflammation in patients with diseased heart tissue or cardio disease.
- Digestion Problems – Since both the chemical and physical aspects of digestion begin in the mouth; any oral health issues can easily become intestinal issues leading to GI failure, IBS, and other disorders.
The Key to Oral Health
Keeping up with routine dental visits will help maintain your oral health and allow your dentist near you to look for changes. Regular dental exams reveal a lack of good nutrition, poor oral hygiene, jaw misalignment issues, and problems with growth or development.