How Your Dental Health Impacts Your Overall Health
Dr. Barry LeJeune
It is important to take care of your dental health in between visits to your dentist in Hampton, VA. This is how your oral health impacts your overall health.
Did you know that heart disease and not brushing or flossing your teeth are more closely linked than you might expect?
That's because your dental health has more to do with your overall health than most people realize. Why might this be?
What kind of health problems might you need to worry about if you don't take care of your teeth or make regular visits to your dentist in Hampton, VA?
If you're asking yourself these questions, you've clicked on the right article to find your answers. Here, we'll explore why dental health is important and how poor dental health can result in more health problems than you might have bargained for.
First, let's take a look at how you're supposed to handle your dental care and what can happen if you ignore it for too long.
Why You Should Take Care of Your Teeth
Many people tend to ignore brushing and especially flossing their teeth because they think nothing very serious could happen. After all, filling a few cavities isn't all that bad, especially if you've had it done before.
Eventually, as the acid eats away at your teeth, you will develop tooth decay and likely cavities as well. Your teeth will become more sensitive to hot and cold substances and you might develop gum disease or start to lose teeth in severe cases.
The bacteria in your mouth also are responsible for plaque formation. Plaque is a sticky film that coats your teeth. It can be brushed away with a toothbrush, but if left to sit, it turns into tartar which is a hard substance that can only be removed with special tools while visiting your local dentist.
Dental Health and Your Overall Health
The consequences of ignoring your dental health don't stop with your teeth and gums. Certain oral diseases can be harmful to the rest of your body as well, especially gum disease. But how might this be?
Endocarditis is a condition that seems to be linked to gum disease. Endocarditis involves the inner lining of your heart which becomes infected when exposed to bacteria from other parts of the body such as bacteria in the mouth. To get from the mouth to the inside of the heart, the bacteria are able to enter the bloodstream.
Endocarditis also involves the valves and chambers of the heart. The symptoms include fever and chills. It can become a very serious and even life-threatening problem if you do not take antibiotics to treat the infection once it starts.
Or, of course, you could take the easier route and brush your teeth at least twice a day. Poor oral health is linked to another heart problem as well, namely cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the top causes of death in the United States and actually causes more deaths than cancer and accidental injuries.
It is not yet understood how poor dental health and cardiovascular disease are linked, but there does seem to be a connection. Cardiovascular disease itself is usually caused by clogged arteries and it is believed that the inflammatory bacteria in the mouth might have something to do with inflaming and swelling blood vessels.
How Certain Conditions Can Affect Your Oral Health
While poor oral health can affect your overall health, the opposite can be true as well. This is because certain health conditions can leave your oral health more vulnerable than usual which can lead to many more health problems. For example, people with diabetes are not as resilient to infections as others and they tend to heal more slowly.
This is not ideal since gum disease is especially prevalent in those who have diabetes. Gum disease can get very serious very fast. While gum disease starts out as red or puffy gums, it can quickly progress to bleeding gums and tooth loss.
More than that, once you reach the severe stages of gum disease, your diabetes will make it especially difficult for your gums to heal. By flossing your teeth, you can avoid gum disease even if you do have diabetes.
Other conditions such as osteoporosis may make it difficult to care for your teeth as well, but no matter what health problems you're dealing with, you should always aim to improve your oral health.
By scheduling regular visits to the dentist, flossing and brushing your teeth every day, and limiting your intake of sugary foods and drinks, you will see an improvement in your oral health (and maybe even your overall health) in no time at all.
Dental Care from Your Dentist in Hampton VA
By the end of this article, you should know all about why it's important to take care of your teeth and to regularly visit your dentist in Hampton, VA. By ignoring your dental health, you risk damaging your overall health.
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