Did you know there is a major connection between your dental hygiene and systemic health?

Medical and dental professionals have long been treating there patients individually for their medical or dental needs but not together.  Today’s research and evidence is helping to bridge the gap between medical and dental professionals to treat the whole patient.  Numerous scientific studies shown a correlation between periodontal disease and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, preterm labor, etc.

Inflammatory Connection

Every day I am constantly trying to education my patients about the inflammatory connections in our dental hygiene and systemic health.  For example for patients that are diabetic, if their periodontal disease is not under control than it will be difficult for them to maintain good levels with their diabetes.  Pregnancy is a major area of concern for female patients.  Pregnancy can wreak havok  on our oral health. Recent studies have shown that women with periodontal disease are 3-5 time more likely to have preterm labor than those with healthy mouths.  Many pregnant women experience bleeding gums, increase decay, and sometimes pyogenic granulomas or pregnancy tumors.   Studies in recent years have also shown the connection between dementia and periodontal disease is not only due to the inflammation but also the plaque biofilm entering the central nervous system causing cognitive impairment.  Another major factor in connection with periodontal disease is cardiovascular disease.  This connection is similar to that of dementia where the plaque biofilm enters the blood stream but in the case of cardiovascular disease causing a thickening of the blood vessel wall that is associated with cardiovascular disease.

Much of this research is relatively new to the medical and dental world making the exact causes and connections unknown.  What we do know is that chronic inflammation in your mouth is linked to many systemic and autoimmune disease in a negative way. The Doctor and the Sugar Fix Dental Loft team make it their goal to ensure that our patients are highly educated as to how their oral health and whole body health are connected.  Always remember to make sure you are seeing your hygienist routinely and maintaining your oral health care at home!