How Your Oral Health Can Impact Your Overall Health

You may have thought that good oral health is only important in fighting against oral health issues such as gum disease, bad breath or tooth decay. However, that status of your oral health can play a much more important role than that of just a surface-level health.

Recent research from Keene dentist Dr. Perry, has found that your oral health can actually have a broader impact on your overall health. This easily supports the statement saying that every part of your body is connected with each other. 

This brief article explores the types of health issues that can be caused by poor oral health, stressing the importance of maintaining a good state of oral health.

The Mouth is a Microcosm

It is true to say that you can find out a lot about someone's overall health from simply taking a swab of saliva from the mouth. 

For many doctors and health professionals, the mouth is the entry point from which they can investigate disease-highlighting a clear path and correlation between oral health and overall health. 

Saliva is the "Great Protector"

Saliva is not only important in diagnosing disease or determining your general state of health, but it is also important when it comes to the great protector's ability to protect against harmful disease. 

Maintaining strong oral health is an important step to ensuring battle-hardened saliva antibodies can attack harmful pathogens that cause common cold or HIV. 

Oral Symptoms are Very Common

For many serious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, it is common for symptoms to first appear in the mouth. According to the Academy of General Dentistry, 90 percent of all systemic diseases display oral symptoms.

The Mouth is a Source of Infection

One of the most important reasons for maintaining strong oral health is that your mouth is a source of infection and in many ways, a vector of disease. Maintaining good dental hygiene by regularly brushing your teeth and flossing to reduce the build-up of plaque is essential for minimizing the risk of contracting a systemic disease. 

More plaque build-up leads to more potentially harmful bacteria entering your body which can be transmitted into your bloodstream. The three most common gum diseases are:

• Gingivitis

• Periodontitis

• Trench mouth

Gingivitis is the least serious and is caused by excessive plaque build-up between the gums and teeth. If the disease is left untreated, it causes the more serious oral infection known as Periodontitis. The most serious oral infection is commonly referred to as Trench Mouth - where gums become excessively swollen causing severe pain.

Diseases Can Result from Poor Oral Health

A common cause of gum disease is from excessive plaque build-up. Gum disease, if treated, can be healed. However, if there are no health measures, gum disease can contribute to the following health risks:

• Poorly managed diabetes: People with diabetes are already at a greater risk to gum disease but serious gum disease affects the body's response to insulin, making control of blood sugar level more problematic. 

• Cardiovascular disease: Bacterial infection through the mouth can cause oral inflammation which in turn can cause atherosclerotic plaques arteries. Having clogged up arteries is the primary cause of cardiovascular disease such as a heart attack due to the disruption of blood circulation.

• Preterm birth: Mouth infections are a significant cause of premature births and underweight births. The theory proposed by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research is that oral bacteria can enter the bloodstream via the placenta, disrupting the crucial development of the fetus. 

Hopefully, this brief article has given you some insight into how important your health is on your overall health. Research by Dr Perry and others should be seen as a significant guide to preventing oral-based infections.

While maintaining strong oral health cannot completely eradicate the risk of bacterial or viral infections, it certainly minimizes risk.