6 Reasons to Visit the Dentist Sooner Rather Than Later

Many people mistakenly believe that whatever happens in their mouth will not affect the rest of their body or vice versa. But that’s not so. Whatever happens in your mouth is broadcast to the rest of your body.

Your oral health and your overall health are irrevocably connected. And more evidence is mounting to confirm that tooth decay and gum disease bear direct links to ailments such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease.

This is why regular dental exams work as effective whole-body prevention and detection tools for disease and other ailments. And getting there sooner rather than later can be the difference between healthier and sicker.

The Top 6 Reasons to Visit Your Dentist Sooner Rather Than Later

1. Diabetes
   Gum disease is a double-edged ailment when it comes to diabetes. First, diabetes stresses your whole body. You have a tougher time fighting infections, including gum disease, when your blood sugar is out of whack. But your body also has a difficult time controlling your blood sugar when you have gum disease.

   Gum disease is a double-edged ailment when it comes to diabetes. First, diabetes stresses your whole body. You have a tougher time fighting infections, including gum disease, when your blood sugar is out of whack. But your body also has a difficult time controlling your blood sugar when you have gum disease.

2. Heart Health

   “People with gum disease have two to three times the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event.”¹ This is an accepted statistic within the dental community. However, what isn’t so clear is whether this link between oral health and heart health is direct or indirect. But continued studies are drawing a strong line connecting the body’s immune response to gum disease – inflammation – as a very real facilitator of declining heart health.The lack of gum disease is not sure-fire insurance against heart disease, but maintaining optimal oral health certainly adds to your prevention arsenal.

3. Tobacco Use By now, most of us know the damage tobacco use inflects upon a user’s lungs. But lungs aren’t the only victim of tobacco. In addition to permanently staining teeth and doubling up your risk of tooth loss, tobacco use boosts your chances for tooth decay, gum disease, and oral cancer.

   With regular visits, dentists can help tobacco users fight off and detect decay, disease, and cancer before it takes hold.

4. Cancer Cancer’s ravages the body, and unfortunately, so can cancer therapies. Many treatments can degrade oral health by provoking dry mouth, painful gums, swollen tongue, and sores in the mouth and throat – which could lead to infection.

   Cancer patients will want to keep the dentist on their protocol list. A body already fighting cancer will only become weaker when trying to fight additional disease and infection in the mouth.

Additional Dental Nuggets to Chew On

Here are six additional conditions your dentist can help remedy that could be signs or facilitators of more serious issues:

• Chapped lips that won’t heal could mean you have a vitamin deficiency
• Heavy Tartar if untreated, will lead to tooth decay and gum disease
• Red, inflamed, or bleeding gums may signal gum disease
• Dry mouth invites tooth decay and gum disease
• A fuzzy tongue can be an indicator of chronic dry mouth or fungal infections like thrush
• Chronic bad breath could be a warning of gum disease

Whatever happens in your mouth doesn’t stay in your mouth. Getting to the dentist sooner rather than later will only amplify your chances of warding off disease and preserving your oral and whole-body health.

Citations:
1. Gum disease and heart disease: The common thread, Harvard Health Publishing, 2018