8 WAYS YOUR DENTAL HEALTH AFFECTS YOU
On a scale of 0 to 10, how conscious are your about the status of your dental health? If your answer is anything less than 10, we are hoping to make you more mindful about your dental health by the time you get to the end of this article.
Your teeth and mouth are as much a part of your body as your heart, liver and kidney. In spite of this well-known fact, we regularly come across patients who say “It was just a tooth ache and gum bleed, so I popped some painkillers instead of going to the dental clinic near me” or “Only a couple of my teeth are bad enough to be pulled out, I still have many other teeth to eat” or “The nearest dental clinic is so expensive. I’d rather lose the teeth than my time and money”. To all our readers who feel the same way, here’s some food for thought – Would you be as casual about losing one of your fingers, since you have 9 others? Or would you not treat one of your failing kidneys because you have another one?
Read on to understand why every tooth is important and how your dental health impacts your overall health and well-being, just as much as any other organ of your body does.
- 1. Your ability to eat food: Just like food, clothing and shelter are the basic necessities in life, a complete and healthy set of teeth is a pre-requisite to being able to enjoy a healthy diet. A balanced diet in turn ensures your body functions well.
- 2. Your mouth leads to your lungs: There are many bacterial species inside your mouth and on your teeth. Regular brushing and flossing keeps their levels in check. Poor oral hygiene means an exponential growth of these bacteria on your teeth and gums, causing oral diseases. Since your mouth passage is connected to your lungs, these bacteria can cause respiratory diseases such as pneumonia.
- 3. Your mouth also leads to your gut: Just as oral bacteria can reach your lung, they can reach your digestive system too! And that’s not the only way bad teeth can give you an upset tummy… Loose or missing teeth lead to uncomfortable chewing of food and push you towards a less fibrous and more processed diet. This in turn leads to more digestive and metabolic issues.
- 4. Diabetes and oral health are related too: Studies have proven that gum diseases hamper the control of blood sugar levels, thus worsening diabetes. The other way round also holds true; diabetics are more prone to poor oral health.
- 5. From tooth ache to heart ache: The bacteria responsible for dental and gum diseases can travel to your heart via the blood vessels and cause hardening and plaque formation in the arteries. This directly increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Sometimes, the heart tissue gets infected leading to endocarditis.
- 6. Dental health for mental health: The bacteria for poor gum health may also enter the brain through either nerve channels or blood vessels, that might even lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease.
- 7. Menace for mommies-to-be: Studies have linked poor gum health to premature birth and low birth weight of babies.
- 8. A dirty mouth is bad for your social life: Poor dental health can cause a foul stench from your mouth. This can severely impact your social life and cause people to keep a distance from you. People with missing front teeth or multiple cavities in their front teeth, is that they are very conscious about their smile and usually suffer from low self-esteem. They usually avoid smiling wide and are known to avoid social functions.
Still think your dental health shouldn’t be a priority? For comprehensive dental care consult our doctors at The Maxfac Clinic. We are a super-speciality dental clinic in South Mumbai at Lamington Road, catering to all your dental and maxillofacial surgery needs.