The Perio-cardio Connection- Understanding The Link Between Your Oral And General Health

As technology continues to advance in dentistry

, research continues to unfold. Recently, researchers have discovered that there is a direct correlation between the health of your mouth and the health of your body. This research indicates that periodontitis may be associated with several other health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or stroke.

In order to better understand how the mouth can affect the body, it helps to understand what can go wrong in the first place. Bacteria build up on teeth, which make your gums more prone to infection. The immune system then moves in to attack the infection and the gums become inflamed. This inflammation continues unless the infection is brought under control. Over time, the inflammation and chemicals it releases eat away at the gums and bone structure that hold the teeth in place, resulting in periodontitis-severe gum disease. By properly caring for your teeth and gums, you can potentially protect your entire body from further harm.

The Diabetes Link

According to recent studies, people with diabetes are twice as likely to develop serious gum disease. Why? When a person has diabetes, it makes the body more susceptible to bacterial infection, which makes you have a decreased ability to fight germs that invade the gums. Thankfully, there are easy steps you can take to protect your oral health if you have diabetes.

This link may be the strongest of all the connections between the mouth and body as the inflammation begins in the mouth and seems to weaken the body's ability to control blood sugar. People with diabetes have trouble processing sugar because of a lack of insulin, the hormone that converts sugar into energy. Periodontal disease further complicates the disease because the inflammation impairs the body's ability to utilize insulin.

Heart Disease and Your Oral Health

Though not always fully understood, it is clear that gum disease and heart disease often go hand in hand. Up to 91% of patients with heart disease have periodontitis, compared to the 66% of people with no heart disease. These two conditions-gum and heart disease-have several risk factors in common, such as smoking, an unhealthy diet, and excess weight. Some even suspect that periodontitis has a direct role in raising the risk for heart disease as well.

The theory for this connection is that inflammation in the mouth causes inflammation in the blood vessels, which can increase the risk for heart attack in a number of ways. Inflamed blood vessels allow less blood to travel between the heart and the rest of the body, raising blood pressure.

Even with research being inconclusive at this point, it is still important to keep your mouth healthy and help prevent gingivitis from the start. This will include visiting your dentist in Fort Myers at least twice a year and brushing and flossing regularly. So if you remove plaque on your teeth through brushing twice a day and flossing daily, and visiting your dentist for regular cleanings, you can help minimize your risk of gum disease.

Contact your Fort Myers dentist to learn more about the connection between the health of your body and mouth. With proper care you can further protect your teeth and gums from harm.

by: Gen Wright

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