The Connection Between Oral and Overall Health

Did you know that just because you have good oral health doesn’t mean anything? Having clean teeth, mouth and gums make a shinny sparkling smile. And did you know, that there is a connection  between oral and overall health? There’s a saying that “healthy mouth, healthy you” and which is really true according to scientific researchers. Here is some information for you to understand why oral health has a connection between overall health.

 

The Risk of Bad Oral Health

With clean mouth you prevent some deceases that may harm our body. There are lots of bacteria in our mouth which are some of them are good bacteria, those bacteria help our body to have some infections and without that bacteria body is prone to different kind of deceases. Here are some of them:

  • Diabetes – if the mouth has an inflammatory disease, it weakens the body to control blood sugar. Without sugar people’s body with diabetes will have a hard time producing insulin, the energy converted from sugar.
  • Memory loss – people with gingivitis (gum bleeding) has the tendency of having a worse test of memory.
  • Heart disease – inflammation of the gums may cause occlusion of the blood vessels of the body that may put the risk of having a heart attack.
  • Lung condition – with gingivitis, people sometimes swallow, causing bacteria to go in the lung that may weaken its immune system.
  • Preterm birth – woman who have severe gum problems had the high-rate risk of having preterm delivery and may give a low weight baby. The theory that oral bacteria releases toxic that can harm the fetus.

There are six (6) ways that good oral health do to your body and helps keeps you well and healthy. Always remember that keeping a regular oral hygiene makes a boost in overall health. These are the list them:

  1. Boost confidence, self-image and self-esteem.
  2. Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
  3. Prevent memory loss/preserve memory.
  4. An aid to pregnant woman carry a baby to a term.
  5. Keeps the blood sugar circulation.
  6. Avoid the risk of having inflammation in your body and infections.

 

Bad Oral Health Prevention

There are lots of ways how to protect your mouth. These are some of them that can help you in your oral hygiene.

  • Brushing your teeth – one of the best protection for bad oral health. Make sure you do it at least twice a day.
  • Food – eating healthy diet foods reduces the ability of bad bacteria to grow. Also limit your time between meal snacks.
  • Floss – daily flossing helps and keep to remove those stains or foods left between your teeth that can start building or creating bad bacteria.
  • Change/replace your toothbrush every three (3) to four (4) months. Even replace toothbrush every time you feel that the bristles are worn off.
  • Have a regular dental check up from your doctor.

Remember: Every time you have there’s an oral problem comes, contact or go to your dentist to avoid gum, teeth or oral health problems.

 

Having a good oral health also boost your confidence and self-esteem. With a good and healthy mouth prevent you from having cavities, sleep well, eat proper food, even work with no worrying  of any gum and teeth aching. Speaking of sleep, have you experienced not sleeping well because of difficulty breathing? If yes, then you might have sleep apnea. Try asking your dentist if they offer sleep apnea oral appliance therapy.

And with a clean mouth you have a clean saliva, which is the main defense again bad bacteria and viruses. Saliva contains a protein called histatin (anti-microbial and anti-fungal proteins) helps fight viral pathogens, such as HIV and the common cold. Always remember that oral hygiene or oral health is not just for the mouth, it is also connected to the overall health of your body. Clean mouth, clean body – healthy body. For people living with HIV that need dental care, they can go to clinics that provide HIV dental work.

Wisdom Tooth for a Thought

According to studies one out of four persons will have wisdom teeth. The development of these teeth comes once an individual is around twelve years old. Some may wonder, what is the function of wisdom teeth?

The wisdom teeth are commonly developed at the third molars. The experts believe that these parts of the teeth were used by the early human ancestors to grind plant tissues, for they have larger jaws and more teeth. This way they use them for chewing the cluster of the plant leaves, thus making it easier to digest. When human diets changed, the development of smaller jaws follows. In spite of these changes, wisdom teeth which are also called the third molars, are commonly developed in some individuals.

Removing Wisdom Teeth for 6 Reasons:

1. Want to have Peace of Mind. Avoiding complication is what everyone often wants. So there are people who choose to remove their wisdom teeth for health reason. It is believed that the early they are removed, it would easier to recover.
2. Even the asymptomatic or problem free state of wisdom teeth, it will remain a breeding ground for oral inflammation or infection. According to research, the inflammation has the possibility to enter the bloodstream and then may develop different diseases such as stroke, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
3. When there is inflammation and gum disease linked on wisdom teeth, it can result in tooth loss, deterioration of the jawbone and receding gum tissues.
4. When the wisdom teeth develop linked to cysts/tumors. It requires broad procedure to remove this type of wound, to be able to restore the appearance and jaw function.
5. For those with successful wisdom teeth gum tissue eruption, this area is observed to to clean thoroughly and have no meaningful function.
6. Research shows oral inflammation that linked with wisdom teeth can lead to low birth weight infants or premature birth.

Wisdom Tooth Extraction Procedure

To be able to proceed to the surgery of wisdom tooth extraction procedure, the patient shouldn’t have any infections or it will be delayed until the infection is cleared (with the use of antibiotics).

The dentist needs to take a closer look of your wisdom tooth beneath the gums by Xray. The result of the result of the x-ray will let the dentist see if root of the wisdom tooth is straight or not.

Before the dentist remove the wisdom tooth, the patient will be given a local anesthetic (to numb the tooth area to be removed). If there are several wisdom teeth to be removed, a general anesthetic can be used.

When the procedure is done, you’ll have stitches (some may be taken off or dissolved). The dentist will advise you about this. To stop the bleeding, a clean cotton gauze pad will be placed over the wound.

Tooth Abscess Talk

A bacterial infection that results to a pocket of pus is what tooth abscess. There are different parts of the tooth that can affect abscess:
• The Periodontal is an abscess appears and infect the gum next to the root tooth part.
• The Periapical is an abscess occurs at the tip of root tooth. This is the result when there is an untreated dental injury, cavity or some prior dental work.
• Pericoronal abscess, pertains to the soft tissues walling the top part of a tooth.
• Gingival abscess affecting the gum tissue only.
• Periodontic-endodontic combined abscess, this is a dental situation where a periodontal abscess and periapical abscess are present.

Symptoms to take note on abscessed tooth:
• There will be pain when chewing.
• Swelling and toothache.
• Odd or bitter taste in the mouth.
• Gum tissue is swollen, inflamed or infected.
• Gum tissue drainage.

This can induce openings to the anamel tooth, which can let the bacteria affect the middle part of the tooth called pulp. Such infection can travel from the root tooth up to the bones supporting the tooth if not treated right, see here more information from a dentistry clinic in town. It is best when you feel the uneasiness mentioned above, you can consult with your dentist right away to avoid further complications.

The Tooth is Diagnosed by
• Using a dental instrument, your dentist will examine your teeth.
• Feeling pain when the instrument tapped your tooth is a positive indication that you have an abscessed tooth.
• You’ll also be asked if the pain increases when you close your mouth tightly or bite down.
• Having a red swollen gum may give your dentist help to think you already have an abscessed tooth.
• In some cases, the dentist may ask you to take X-rays to check for erosion of bone in the area if there is abscess.

Treatment for Abscessed Tooth
Removing the infection means draining the abscess using the root canal procedure. This type of surgery is often used to take off diseased tooth tissue after the infection has worn-off.
Extracting the tooth to be able to drain through a socket is another option for the Dentist.
An incision into the swollen gum tissue is the third method to drain the abscess.
The patient will be prescribed antibiotics to fight the infection. While for pain and discomfort due to the abscessed tooth, over the counter pain reliever such as ibuprofen and rinsing the affected area with warm salt-water rinse can help ease everything.

Prevention is Better than Cure
To avoid such situation is far better than finding a solution. Below are the preventive measures to dental abscess to happen:
• Brushing your teeth is very basic but can help you a lot.
• Dental floss habit. Using a floss to reach the area that your toothbrush can’t reach is a plus for hygiene and teeth protection.
• Replace toothbrush every 4 months or when the bristles are frayed, will make tooth brushing more effective.
• Consuming healthy food and avoiding much sweet.
• Regular checkups with your dentist and teeth cleaning.
• For extra layer protection, use an antiseptic mouthwash to fight tooth decay.