How Oral Hygiene Affects Overall health

If you want to avoid having a stroke or a heart attack, you need to take your oral hygiene care seriously. Your oral health plays a valuable role in your overall general health. Bad teeth can not only ruin your gums, but also affect the different organs in your body. Your dentist is your lifeline.

How Oral Health Impacts Overall Wellbeing

Good oral health can add up to 10 years to your life. Research shows that people avoid visiting the dentist out of fear. However, that fear can lead to an offset of dangerous medical events and create an array of life-threatening diseases.

No one mouth is completely germ free. Even after brushing your teeth, plaque forms once again on the surface of your teeth. If left unattended, it can spread throughout your mouth and damage the enamel on your teeth, which leads to tooth decay and enamel erosion, not to mention adding to your chances of whole-body inflammation.

Start Taking Care of Your Oral Health before Visiting the Dentist

Dental maintenance begins at home. We all know that brushing our teeth regularly can prevent tooth decay, gingivitis, pyrea, and other gum diseases, that are linked to heart and brain diseases. Your mouth is home to the most type of bacteria, and there is no way around it. Without the proper treatment, plague can ruin the surface of your teeth. Once plaque has hardened and tartar forms, bacteria sets in between the gum lines and the teeth, creating problems like bleeding, gingivitis and bleeding gums. Eventually, pus fills the areas, and tissues become inflamed, and the teeth bones are compromised, and the teeth can no longer remain in their sockets.

Here are the symptoms of periodontal disease:

  • Loose teeth
  • Changes in bite
  • Bad breath for no reason
  • Sores or pus filled areas in gums
  • Bleeding
  • Receding, swollen, or red gums
  • Sensitive, tender, or painful gums

How Periodontal Disease Causes Other Illnesses

When (Periodontal) gum disease worsens, unfavorable dental conditions appear, and can affect your quality of life. When plaque bacteria attack the immune system, inflammatory and periodontal disease takes its toll and becomes persistent in the body. The chemical and bacterial elements that enter into the bloodstream can overload healthy cells and tissues, leading to chronic illnesses and diseases in organs such as the heart.

The scary part about bacteria from the mouth is its ability to travel throughout the body, and colonize to tissues in the body. Dr. Oz recommends the best way to fight against gum disease, and protect your brain and heart, is to commit to regular dental visits and oral hygiene care.

Committed to Taking Care of Your Mouth the Right Way

If you are in need of dental services, visit us at Great Lakes Dental. We'll work magic on your smile. You can get all of your cosmetic dentistry done at one place including teeth whitening, Invisalign, veneers and more. An attractive smile is a healthy smile. Call us today to learn more about our dental services and how we can help your teeth and gums stay healthy.