Westchester NY Dentist Shows how Your Oral Health and Physical Health are Related
The reason that many patients don’t take their dental health very seriously is because they don’t believe it’s as important as the rest of their health. They also think that simply brushing their teeth will do the trick to making sure that their teeth are in tip-top shape, but there’s much more to it than that! Thankfully, your Westchester NY dentist is here to explain to you why your oral health is just as important as your overall health.
When you eat something that contains a large amount of sugar, this is broken down into bacteria that’s likely to stick onto your teeth. If you’re not properly brushing and flossing your teeth every morning and night, you’re allowing this bacteria to linger and cause dental issues like cavities and eventual tooth decay. Letting this get out of hand over time can cause tooth loss, leaving this space open and vulnerable.
When you’re missing a tooth or multiple teeth, that area is much more sensitive than before. Your gums have a direct connection to your bloodstream, so if an infection is around, it can quickly get into your bloodstream. Inflammation in your gums is uncomfortable, painful and is known to connect to the possibility of heart problems while also affecting your overall health in general.
This inflammation is usually known as periodontitis or gum disease. If caught in its early stages of gingivitis, it can be professionally cleaned by a dentist in order to prevent it. If it progresses, gum disease will occur, which cannot be reversed. This causes your gums to pull away from your teeth, allowing your teeth to become loose and possibility fall out because their support system has weakened or completely disappeared.
Besides heart issues, another health problem can be affected by your oral care—diabetes. If you have diabetes, you’re more likely to have gum disease than someone who doesn’t because the inflammation in the gums weakens the body’s ability to process and break down sugar. The lack of insulin allows the sugar to further work against your oral and overall health.
If you want to learn more about how your body and oral health are affected, contact your Westchester NY dentist by calling our office at (914) 939-2132 or clicking here to request an appointment online.