Studies continue to link your mouth to your health!

YOUR MOUTH AND THE RISK OF SYSTEMIC DISEASE

Each week as I go through the articles and recent research looking for interesting things to share with my blog followers, it is astounding how many studies are correlating disease in the mouth to some health condition.

The shear number of diseases and their links to the oral microbiome are compelling. Here are just a few of the conditions I've seen mentioned in recent studies:

• Alzheimer's disease
• Migraine headaches
• Cancers
• Stroke
• Heart disease
• Erectile dysfunction
• Estrogen therapy
• Diabetes
• Depression
• Chronic systemic diseases
• Pre-term babies & low birth weights
• Testerone levels
• Kidney disease
• Bacterial pneumonia
• Chronic inflammatory diseases
• Nutritional deficiency

This is a huge warning that your health is tied to the choices you make related to caring for not only your body but your mouth. After all, the mouth is the first place that food enters the body and in many cases it is the first place that bacteria enter the body. 

In an unhealthy mouth, red swollen bleedy gums give bacteria access to your blood stream and thereby they have access to your entire body! Many studies have shown that when a mouth is healthy or when an unhealthy mouth is treated hospitalization rates are reduced and medical expenditures go down.

In all of my years in the dental field the number one excuse for not doing dental treatment has been lack of insurance and the cost of dental treatment, not fear! But it is FEAR of NOT doing treatment that should motivate people to seek treatment for their dental disease! It has become clear that dental disease, cavities and gum disease, are linked to systemic diseases that at the very least can reduce the quality of your life and at the very worst can be the cause of an early death.

Dental disease is relatively easy to prevent in the early stages with excellent home care routines. Daily removal of the bacterial colonies that accumulate on the teeth and at the gumline by brushing twice a day, daily flossing and rinsing with an alcohol free mouthwash after brushing are the first defense against oral disease. The second defense is regular checkups with your dentist to educate you in oral hygiene techniques and to stop/treat disease early before it progresses. So go ahead save your life today and get and appointment with a competent dental provider!