The Importance of Dental Care to Overall Body Health

Most of the people think oral health as a minor problem compared to other body issues. However, your entire life can be affected in several ways that you often take for granted. The health of the mouth is the reflection of the overall wellness of our full body. Our mouth contains many bacteria which are beneficial for the body when kept in control with flossing and regular brushing. If regular dental care is not taken properly or ignored, it may lead to tooth decay and gum disease. A healthy mouth always leads to a healthy body. Poor oral health affects sleep, memory, pregnancy, blood sugar level, joints, lungs and heart in several ways. Dental care McLean is not only vital for your oral hygiene but at the same time protects your overall health. We will be discussing some of them.

Heart

Repeated and persistent inflammation of gums leads to blockage in the blood vessels thereby causing strokes and cardiovascular problems. When one suffering from inflammation, drink plenty of water and avoid alcohol as well as strong mouthwash. When flossing and brushing, you should do it slowly and avoid exerting too much pressure on both gums and teeth. Gum inflammations will not affect your heart directly and instantly, but inflammation gets increased throughout the body and eventually, it leads to cardiovascular issues.

Sleep

If your mouth is not properly cleaned or rinsed after eating especially the food that contains starch and sugar, tooth decay may occur. Similarly, when you are eating in a hurry, raw and sore spots of chewing cheeks can occur. These conditions worsen during night and make it annoying for you to sleep. Overgrown bacteria in your mouth lead to snoring and disturb the sleeping pattern of the patient. It also affects their partner and family members which leaves everyone waking up tired even after sleeping for several hours.

Lungs

Dental care in McLean is connected with lungs because when there are bad and unwanted bacteria present in the mouth, they also enter the lungs through inhalation that cause infections like pneumonia. If the patients already suffering from lung infection develop periodontal diseases, the condition becomes worse.

Blood Sugar

If someone is suffering from diabetes, then gum infections worsen the situation. It is brutal as diabetic people are prone to gum diseases. Therefore, both conditions lead to each other. If one of these diseases gets cured, you will be relieved. So, taking care of gums is comparatively easy than managing diabetes. The common remedy is cutting down on food that has high sugar content as it helps to maintain the blood sugar level as well as help in controlling the unwanted bacterial growth in your mouth.

Memory

Excessive growth of bacteria in the mouth leads to swollen and bleeding gums which are termed as gingivitis.   Strange it may sound, but studies show that people suffering from gingivitis tend to have an effect on their memory that makes it tough for them in performing even a simple mathematical operation like multiplication and subtraction as well as suffer from the late verbal recall that ultimately affects daily lives. Use antibacterial mouthwash twice a day for eliminating the bacteria.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy in women gets affected due to bad oral health or gum problems. Women with gum infections are more prone to developing gestational diabetes. If the mother has gum disease, there are chances that baby can be low weight and there is an increase in early delivery which means there are some complications for the child at birth as well as later in life. Therefore, when a woman is pregnant, it is vital to visit a McLean dentist regularly.

Inflammation in the Body

As we have discussed earlier, poor dental care in McLean causes inflammation in the mouth that leads to inflammation in the whole body and also causes inflammation in the joints. This type of condition is termed as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and occurs because the mechanism of damage of connective tissues in both joints and gums are the same. So, if someone is diagnosed with RA, the doctor always recommends visiting a dentist for a daily checkup and make sure you floss and brush two times regularly.