How do unhealthy gums affect your body?
How do unhealthy gums affect your body?
Your mouth is the gateway to your body. Unhealthy gums are an indication of an unhealthy body. Your food plays a major role in a healthy living. This makes your mouth the first site where many diseases may be detected.
Unhealthy gums and oral bacteria
The mouth, just like the intestine, is full of bacteria. Good and bad ones. What’s important is maintaining the good bacteria in larger number and having almost no bad bacteria. An increased number of bad bacteria can enter the blood stream through the mouth. These bacteria then affect other organs adversely. The damage due to increased number of bad bacteria in the mouth includes: heart diseases, increased risk of diabetes and complications during pregnancy.
Heart diseases
Unhealthy gums lead to gum diseases (periodontitis). This increases the risk of formation of deposits in the blood vessels. When clubbed with increased blood pressure, obesity, and tobacco use increases the risk even further.
Diabetes
You at a risk of either developing diabetes or worsening your condition if you have moderate to severe gum disease. Evidence projects that severe gum disease adversely affects blood glucose levels. It might affect individuals with or without diabetes. Regular gum treatments may provide beneficial effects in some diabetic patients. We recommend you to get oral checkups regularly.
Do you have diabetes? If yes, read on:
You should receive a thorough oral examination, which includes a comprehensive periodontal evaluation. If you are diagnosed with gum disease, learn to manage it properly. What if no gum disease is diagnosed initially? Ask your dentist for a well planned preventive care regime . In addition, monitor your oral health regularly for periodontal changes. Do you have extensive tooth loss? If so, you should pursue to restore the missing teeth. This will make chewing easier and provide proper nutrition.
Adverse pregnancy outcomes
This is a potential issue. Are you a woman of childbearing age? If yes, then I encourage you to undergo preventive periodontal care prior to conception. However, periodontal therapy can also be undertaken in pregnant women for improved periodontal health.
Other Diseases
Other diseases that bad bacteria caused or worsen are: Lung diseases, pneumonia Kidney diseases Rheumatoid arthritis Obesity, Metabolic syndrome. Thus, healthy gums might help reduce the risk of other diseases. The best method of maintaining healthy gums is proper brushing and flossing.
