How General Dentistry Aids in Your Overall Health
Keeping up with your oral care isn’t only to keep your mouth healthy and your smile pretty, it can actually play a part in your overall health and affect other health issues. Your oral health is important for proper chewing, a healthy smile, pain free gums, strong teeth, and more. By keeping up on your oral health and dentist visits you are ensuring the proper care of all aspects of your mouth including teeth, tongue, gums, and throat. If your oral health begins to fail, this can have consequences on other areas of your health. General dentistry can be your first step in maintaining the health of the rest of your body.
How Is Your Dental Health Related To Your Overall Health?
Your dental health is an important aspect of your overall well being, if you aren’t taking care of your mouth then the rest of your health can suffer too. Did you know that untreated tooth decay is the most common health problem worldwide? Oftentimes keeping up on our dental visits can fall to the wayside during our busy lives. These appointments are pushed to the bottom of our ever growing to-do list, but once you learn about the connection between your dental health and overall health you will want to make sure and prioritize your dental visits.
Bacteria Levels
Bacteria exists naturally in your mouth as it does in many other places in your body, and just like these other places the bacteria levels in your mouth need to be at a proper level or it can cause health issues. If bad bacteria gets through your defenses it can cause infections in your mouth as well as make its way into your respiratory system and digestive tract. The best line of defense against this bad bacteria wreaking havoc on your body is with proper oral hygiene and care. Brushing, flossing, and maintaining regular dentist appointments can ensure your bacteria levels stay in the normal range and prevent infections throughout your body. Your saliva also plays a large role in keeping this bacteria at bay. Be aware that certain popular medications like antihistamines, antidepressants, painkillers, and diuretics can interrupt your saliva production. A lack of saliva can increase the chances of bad bacteria causing infections.
Oral Health and Diseases
While it makes sense your oral health would be connected to oral diseases, did you know it can also affect other diseases in your body? That’s right, oral bacteria and diseases like periodontitis can potentially contribute or cause other diseases in your body. Periodontitis has been linked to increased issues with diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, and more. Other health issues like pregnancy and birth complications, pneumonia, and endocarditis have also been linked to oral health.
Schedule Your Appointment Today!
As you can see your oral health plays a part in your overall health making your regular dental check ups more important than ever. To schedule a check up call us today at Distinctive Dental!
