Why Oral Health is Important for Your Overall Health?

It’s needless to say that looking after your teeth, gums, and mouth is pretty important. That’s no secret nor it is rocket science. It’s also pretty much old news that good oral habits aid in preventing loads of problems like tooth decay, gum disease, and halitosis – otherwise known as bad breath (just to name a few). However, did you know that oral health and overall health go hand in hand?

You should know oral health and overall health are pretty much intertwined and scientists are discovering loads of compelling reasons to stick to brushing and flossing apart from the basic dental benefits. Gum disease, for example, may lead to even more serious conditions like stroke, diabetes, heart attack,… Doesn’t really sound like fun, does it?

If you want to know more about how oral health affects overall health Doral Sedation & Family Dentistry has the inside scoop for you.

Your mouth can tell how healthy you are

For some professionals, just glancing inside your mouth, or examining a slab of saliva, can give away loads of info about what’s happening in your body.

A great number of conditions can be detected by examining the mouth! Believe it or not, your mouth can serve as a pretty solid starting point in detecting systemic diseases at their early stages. These illnesses, such as diabetes or AIDS, often tend to become evident in the form of mouth lesions and other conditions that mainly show in the mouth. As a matter of fact, the Academy of General Dentistry states that 90 percent of all these systemic diseases show easily detectable oral signs and symptoms.

Saliva, a diagnostic tool

Doctors will usually test saliva to help them detect a great number of different substances. Professionals usually use saliva testing to measure environmental toxins, illegal drugs, antibodies, and hormones, which indicate certain conditions such as HIV infection or hepatitis.

Saliva testing might even replace your well-known blood for detecting and monitoring illnesses and certain conditions (liver cirrhosis, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease), as technology advances.

Last but not least, saliva also plays an important role in defending the body from dangerous organisms like viruses and different types of bacteria.

The effects of bad dental habits

Saliva might help protect our body from invaders, but it can’t always be up to the task. With this being said, there are over 500 species of bacteria which thrive in a human mouth. To top this off, they are constantly forming dental plaque, which is a colorless, sticky film that clings to the teeth, and can be a hotbed of health problems.

Don’t ignore gum disease

Poor dental habits can lead to plaque buildup along the gumline, forming a perfect environment for even more bacteria in the spaces between the gums and teeth. The technical term for this infection is called gingivitis, and if it’s left untreated, it can wreak havoc on your dental health (and overall health) and can cause an even more serious problem called periodontitis.

While, in normal cases, bacteria can’t enter the bloodstream via the mouth, an infected gumline will serve as an entry port for these microbes to the bloodstream during routine brushing and flossing. To make matters worse, if you already have a weakened immune system because of another illness or treatment, the presence of oral bacteria in the bloodstream can cause further complications.

The effects of an untreated gum infection are harsh. It is clear that it can result in teeth loss, however, research suggests that it can cause even more problems. Recent studies show that there might be a link between oral infections and cardiovascular disease, preterm birth, and diabetes. While there’s not enough data and evidence to fully back these claims up, it’s always a good idea to stay on the safe side of things and to take good care of your teeth, gums, and mouth before things get serious.

As you can see, having good oral habits is really important, and not just for aesthetic reasons. Having impeccable oral habits not only can help you improve your dental health, but also your health overall. Don’t forget, brushing and flossing are good health investments. If you want to learn more about what can help you achieve impeccable oral habits, visit our website or reach out to us at Doral Sedation.