We don’t want to scare you…okay, perhaps we do. However, we’re scaring you for a good reason…to get you to take your oral health more seriously!
We found a recent online article by Dr. Peter Galgut at Express.co.uk that once again reveals the scientific studies that connect poor oral health and hygiene to many of today’s most harmful diseases, such as: heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and more.
Gum disease is an infection caused by dental plaque bacteria that creep in underneath the gums. This infection slowly erodes away the foundations of the teeth. Then the gums start to shrink, the teeth get loose and wobbly and, if left untreated, we finally end up with abscesses and the loss of our teeth. But that’s not all.
Research has shown that gum infections have very harmful effects throughout our bodies. Did you know there is a major connection between gum disease and heart disease?
It is now known that the bacteria from gum disease can settle on the heart valves and cause permanent damage to them. Once this happens the heart will be unable to work efficiently and it becomes more susceptible to other infections.
Also, women who have active gum disease during their pregnancy are more likely to have pre-term and low birth weight babies as the body cannot concentrate all its resources on the baby while it has to continuously fight off an ongoing infection in the mouth.
We also know that those with uncontrolled diabetes are more susceptible to infections. If these people also have gum disease either it gets worse or the diabetes becomes more difficult to control, or both. So if the immune system has to struggle to control two problems at the same time to try to maintain health, it often fails to manage either.
Worryingly, rheumatoid arthritis has been linked with gum disease and more recently bowel cancer, asthma and even erectile dysfunction.
As more and more medical conditions are associated with this ongoing silent infection, it is clear that although gum disease does not cause pain, swelling or any other alarming symptoms in its early stages, the effects of the infection from the highly toxic bacteria lodged underneath the gums echo throughout our bodies and can cause or contribute significantly to other illnesses.
Again, we want you to take your oral health seriously. At Shine Dental Associates we have an excellent team of dentists, hygienists, and a board certified periodontist to provide the very best dental care on Long Island. Give us a call today for a free consultation at (516) 348-8500.
