Keeping Your Teeth Can Kill You!

Obviously the title of this article is meant to get your attention. But if you think about it and even investigate the information presented, you cannot only improve your dental health, you can improve your overall health and feel better and quite possibly extend your life span. Although you have probably never read an obituary that said "death due to dental disease" was a contributing cause of death, it is happening all the time and going unnoticed.

The first-ever Surgeon General's report in 2000 on oral health "identifies a silent epidemic of dental and oral diseases and calls for a national effort to improve oral health among all Americans. "According to the then Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., serious oral disorders may undermine self-image and self-esteem discourage normal social interaction and lead to chronic stress and depression as well as to incurring great financial cost." Satcher continues on to report that oral disorders "may interfere with vital functions such as breathing, eating, swallowing and speaking"

How is this happening?

When you look in your mouth you are looking inside your body. Signs and symptoms of many life-threatening diseases appear in the mouth first when they are most treatable, since the vast majority of bacteria and viruses enter your body through your nose and mouth, it is critical to your systemic health to treat and if possible eliminate both decay and gum disease. If your teeth and gums are not healthy if cavities, swollen or bleeding gums, bone loss, bad breath etc. are present then the bacteria causing these problems will enter your bloodstream and travel to every other part of your body causing systemic infections and disease.

If you have cavities - which begin with the breakdown of the hardest substance in your body, the enamel on your teeth and / or gum disease in an area of your body with the greatest potential for healing, what do you think is happening in other areas of your body? You can't be healthy if you have dental disease. The list of problems associated with poor oral health is growing. Health professionals and scientists have begun to realize that bacteria from the mouth can travel through the bloodstream to every organ in the body. They are identifying markers such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP). According to the New England Journal of Medicine (November 2002), CRP is a stronger predictor of heart attacks than elevated cholesterol levels. CRP is made by the liver in response to the inflammation in the body including the inflammatory effects of periodontal disease. Periodontal disease has now been linked to heart and lung disease, strokes diabetes, chronic degenerative diseases, osteoporosis pre-term and low birth weight babies, and most recently to pancreatic cancer.

The Good News!

You can easily reduce the infection in your mouth and improve your general health. The mouth is the most uniquely suited area of the body to deal with infection. Your gums are so pink because they have a great blood supply. This allows nutrients, white blood cells and other infection fighters to be brought into the area and waste and toxins are taken away. In addition, you can open your mouth and brush, floss and waterpik your teeth and gums, rinse with mouthwash or use a tongue scraper to reduce the vast microorganism population comprised of more than 4000 species of bacteria living in your mouth. You can even split out or swallow. And last but not least, you can seek care at a dental office. If you are presently feeling fine but have been told you have dental disease, believe it or not you should look at this news as a gift. You received this information by merely opening your mouth. No surgery or invasive tests were necessary and the good news is that it's easily treatable. If you use this information as a wake up call you can reduce both dental problems and future systemic problems potentially saving much grief and expense.

Get rid of as much infection in your mouth as possible.

You should go to a dentist at least once a year and have an examination and get your teeth cleaned. If you can't afford the total treatment suggested, do as much as you can. Try to have the teeth with the most decay treated to avoid the need for root canal therapy or extractions. Do all you can to follow the recommendations of the dental staff regarding gum disease and the care of your mouth in general. But if you suffer from severe dental infections and can't afford treatment or have too much fear or too little concern to have the necessary care, then as a last resort consider removing the diseased teeth. You can get throughout life without all our teeth. You may not look as good or chew as well, but you can always replace them. Therefore, you want to keep them healthy and as free of infection as possible.

For more information please contact Gentle Dental, 1-800-4-Gentle or 1-800-443-6853, www.gentledentalny.com

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