You know that dental health is important, but do you really know why? Here’s how your oral health affects your mouth and body and sets you up for healthy aging.
Why Dental Health is Key to Overall Health
While saliva naturally protects against some disease, the mouth naturally contains bacteria, both good and bad.
When you are keeping up with brushing and flossing, the good and bad bacteria remain in balance because you remove the bad bacteria daily. If you forget to brush and floss, plaque starts to build up in on the gums. Once this happens, more bacteria starts to build up along the teeth and gum line. Pretty soon, you’ve got gum disease or gingivitis.
Gingivitis can be treated with mouthwash, dental cleanings, and regular flossing. If you don’t take action, though, you’ll get stage two gum disease, which is called periodontitis.
If you don’t treat periodontitis, it can worsen to the worst type of gum disease, cause oral bacteria to enter the bloodstream directly, lead to infections, and cause you to lose your teeth.
How Oral Health Problems Affect Your Body
When you keep your teeth and gums healthy, you lower your risk for a broad range of conditions, everything from gum disease to heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
On the flip side, if you neglect your teeth (and, sorry to say, flossing), you actually increase your risk for disease.
There’s a causal relationship between plaque and some health conditions, like diabetes. Having diabetes makes you more likely to develop plaque, which then worsens your diabetes.
Gum disease can also clog your arteries, increasing your risk of stroke and heart attack.
Gum disease increases the risk of premature birth or low birth weight, and in turn premature babies may be more likely to have oral health issues as they grow.
If you’re skeptical that brushing and flossing can really keep you healthy, here’s how it all works. When you have gum disease, the bad bacteria is out of check. Bacteria can then pass from your mouth into your body when you try to fix the gum disease by brushing and flossing.
When your body is healthy, it can ward off the invading bacteria. However, when you’re sick — whether you’re fighting off a cold or fighting cancer — your body can’t combat the bad bacteria, so you get even sicker. You might wind up with infective endocarditis, which is a condition where bacteria from the mouth sticks to the heart valves.
Taking care of your mouth starts with three things: Brushing regularly, flossing regularly, and regular dental exams to catch problems early. Our dentist can demonstrate how to brush and floss correctly, remove plaque, treat gum disease, and help you take care of your full body health at every age.
Protect Your Health
After reading about the importance of oral health, would you like to set up a dental cleaning? Reserve your appointment online or call Weninger Dentistry today at 813-501-6864.