There are a lot of reasons to feel concerned about taking care of your teeth, gums, and mouth. If you practice good oral hygiene, your teeth will be healthier, your breath will smell better, and you will be able to hold on to more of your teeth as you get older.
However, there is a body of medical research that suggests that taking care of your teeth by brushing and flossing can help you avoid other serious medical disorders. On the flip side, if you do not take care of your mouth, especially if you develop gum disease, you risk developing serious health issues, ranging from diabetes to strokes.
Your Mouth Tells the Story of Your Health
People commonly say that the eyes are windows to the soul. By looking at a person’s eyes, you can tell a lot about their demeanor, personality, and health.
Your mouth is an accurate indicator of what is happening to the rest of your body. If a person who lives in Cary, North Carolina, feels concerned about their health and visits a dentist in Cary NC, their dentist might detect systematic diseases. A systematic disease is a disease that affects the entire body.
An example of a systematic disease is diabetes. Symptoms of diabetes are often seen first in the mouth because there are lesions in the mouth or other oral problems. In fact, according to the research, nine out of 10 systematic diseases produce some symptoms in the mouth.
What Your Saliva Says About Your Health
Your saliva can be used by a doctor to test for several substances. This is true from the moment of birth. In fact, when doctors feel concerned about the cortisol levels of an infant, they will use their saliva to test these levels.
When doctors feel concerned that a patient is not producing a sufficient amount of proteins, antibodies, or other substances necessary for good health, they will use a person’s saliva to monitor this. In fact, if a person has cancer, their saliva may be one of the first sources to show the problem.
There’s a reason saliva is used for checking for illegal drugs, toxins, and hormones. The substances in saliva are so powerful that researchers are looking for ways to replace blood testing for saliva testing when monitoring diseases like diabetes and conditions that affect the liver.
Gum Health and Overall Health
Gum disease is one of the most chronic inflammatory conditions on the planet. However, gum disease has been dubbed as a silent disease.
The reason gum disease is so prevalent is that the mouth is a portal for bacteria and can be a source of infection. Gum disease that is allowed to go unchecked can allow bacteria to find its way into the bloodstream and will affect other parts of the body, including the heart.
There are several studies that show a reciprocal relationship between diabetes and gum disease. When a person can control diabetes, their mouth improves. When periodontal disease is controlled, the need for insulin decreases.
What Does Your Tongue Say About Your Health?
If you get a bump or a sore spot on your tongue, it might hurt. But it’s typically harmless. However, there are other times when conditions affecting your tongue are an indicator that there are other health issues that need to be addressed.
For example, if you develop creamy white spots on your tongue, you might be dealing with thrush. Thrush is a fungal infection. It usually develops when illness or medication changes the bacterial levels in your mouth. If you notice white patches that can’t be scraped away, this may be an indication that your body is attacking your tissue and a visit to a doctor is in order.
If your tongue is strawberry red, it could be an early sign that you are dealing with a rare disease that inflames the blood vessels in your body. It could show that you have scarlet fever. Or a red tongue could indicate that your body does not have a sufficient amount of vitamin B3.
Conclusion
As you can clearly see, your mouth plays an important role in your overall health. The healthier your mouth is, the healthier you are. If you are dealing with systemic health issues, your mouth may be the first part of your body to let you know. Therefore, it’s important to get regular checkups from a trained professional.
