The state of your teeth affects your overall health, with gum disease linked to Heart Problems and lots of health problems in other parts of the body. Therefore, brushing your teeth can prevent gum disease and improve your overall health.
Did you know that gum disease isn’t just bad news for your teeth, it’s also linked to serious heart problems and health problems in other parts of your body? What research says about oral hygiene links to cardiac health. Good oral health means more than a mouth full of pearly whites and fresh breath; it can also be the difference between life and death. Your mouth is a hotbed of bacteria, which can be controlled with good oral hygiene. But neglect your teeth and gums, and it’s not just your mouth that will suffer. Studies suggest your overall health may also be on the line. Our comprehensive dental exams and cleanings are recommended once every six months for all patients.
Talk to your dentist if you have Heart Problems
While experts don’t generally recommend taking antibiotics before dental work for people with heart valve disease who have never had valve surgery, it remains always important for these people to brush and floss regularly for good oral hygiene.
A direct link between oral and heart health does exist for one group: those who have certain pre-existing cardiac conditions that make them prone to infective endocarditis, an infection that strikes heart valves or other heart structures. This group particularly includes those who have some congenital heart defects and artificial heart valves.
If you fall into one of these groups, tell your dentist before any procedures, and take antibiotics before surgeries that might cause bleeding in case any mouth-dwelling bacteria enter the bloodstream, he says.
Brush and floss regularly, as well. And, if you take a blood thinner, alert your dentist and confirm with your cardiologist that it’s OK to stop taking it for a dental procedure.
“The key is communication between the dentist and the cardiologist to see if there’s any question about the safety of doing any dental procedures,” Dr. Khandaqji says. “The consequences of not doing so could be significant.”
How to reduce your risk
Does gum disease cause heart disease? Despite the link between gum disease and heart disease, it’s not clear whether one actually causes the other, according to the American Heart Association. The two conditions have some of the same risk factors, including smoking, poor nutrition and diabetes. But even in non-smoking populations, researchers have found a strong correlation between the oral condition and heart disease. One hypothesis is that bacteria from the oral cavity spread throughout the body, worsening other inflammatory conditions, like heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes. Prevention is the best medicine. To make poor oral or cardiac health less likely, you can take these steps to reduce risk factors:
- Regular healthy habits can lower your risk of both gum disease and heart disease. And if you already have one or both of these conditions, these strategies can help reduce their impact.
- Brush and floss regularly. To remove plaque-forming bacteria, brush for at least two minutes, twice a day, and don’t skip the floss.
- Choose a healthy diet, rich in essential nutrients (especially vitamins A and C). Reduce or eliminate sugar and starches. Eat lower-sugar foods and drinks.
- Avoid cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. Even smokeless tobacco can destroy your gums and increase your chance of heart disease.
- Visit the dentist for regular cleanings and exams. Your dentist can identify signs of systemic illness and catch gum disease early on. Always tell your dentist your medical history, current conditions and any medications you’re taking.
- Manage your weight to help control your blood pressure and get more exercise.
- Manage diabetes if you have it; high blood sugar can lead to infections.
To protect your teeth, get regular checkups with your dentist for good preventive care. Dental care can help you avoid or limit oral health problems, while regular visits to your doctor can help you keep track of any cardiovascular risks, Dr. Khandaqji says. Controlling any inflammation is necessary for good health even if there’s no proof of a direct link. Digital X-Rays play an invaluable role for an accurate diagnosis of dental problems. They provide San Ramon dentist Dr. Khandaqji DDS a clear picture for the dentist which is necessary to provide treatment.
“Oral and heart disease are both linked with inflammation, and that’s always created the suspicion that there is a link between the two,” he says. “While that’s not borne out by research, investigations are still ongoing to see if there’s something there.” Bottom line? “Take care of your oral health like you would your whole body,”Dr. Khandaqji says. “Be consistent with your homecare – brush twice a day and floss daily.”
And do note that early warning signs of periodontal disease can be silent. “It’s often when a patient experiences pain and visible symptoms that the disease has progressed to its advanced stages,” Dr. Khandaqji says. “These symptoms include red, swollen or tender gums or other pain in the mouth; bleeding while brushing, flossing or eating hard food; gums that are receding or pulling away from the teeth, causing them to look longer than before; sores in the mouth and pus between the teeth and gums; and persistent bad breath or foul taste.”
Don’t assume that after being treated by a dentist, you’re off the hook. “If you don’t maintain your oral health, it will deteriorate back to harmful levels,” Khandaqji says.
In the first-ever oral health report in 2000, the Surgeon General declared that the “mouth is the center of vital tissues and functions that are critical to total health and well-being across the life span.” In other words, Shamardi says, “Everything in our body is linked.”
At Mona Lisa Smile Dental the goal is to have our patients eliminate cavities and gum disease through good oral hygiene, proper diet and nutrition, thus keeping dental problems to a minimum. After seeing you routinely, we can create a customized recall to best fit your needs that may involve coming for cleanings as often as every 3-4 months.
Your toothbrush bristles are designed to clean about 2-3 millimeters below your gums, but the instruments using in a preventive dentistry professional cleaning can go deeper than this and clean hard-to-reach areas. This will prevent build-up from accumulating below the gumline, which can lead to bone loss, infection, and tooth mobility. The hygienist will usually take X-rays at your cleaning appointment once per year as well. These X-rays help the dentist look for decay and other tooth-related problems as well as assess the health of the bone supporting your teeth.
Proper dental care is critical to preserving and, when necessary, restoring your unique smile. Due to recent innovations in dentistry, proper dental care by San Ramon Dentist Dr.Khandaqji, does not have to take away from your regularly scheduled life.
