The Risks of Bad Oral Hygiene
THE RISKS OF BAD ORAL HYGIENE
Did you know that bad oral hygiene can lead to serious ailments like heart disease? Here is a breakdown of what Oral-Systemic links are and how to prevent them.
WHAT IS ORAL-SYSTEMIC LINK?
Oral-systemic link refers to the connection between periodontal disease and systemic disease. While at first, they might not seem related, diseases such as heart and lung disease can come from oral-based diseases, more specifically, periodontitis.
As an area that has received considerable interest and research, oral-systemic links are associated with 6 out of the 7 leading causes of death in the United States: cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, stroke, chronic lower respiratory disease, and heart disease.
WHAT IS PERIODONTITIS?
Periodontitis, also referred to as gum disease, is a serious infection that damages gums and can destroy your jawbone. Symptoms include gums that are swollen, red, and very tender. While it is fairly common and treatable, you should always practice good oral hygiene and avoid periodontitis altogether. For more on the common causes of periodontitis, see our blog on the 5 Common Causes of Gum Disease.
HOW TO PREVENT ORAL-SYSTEMIC LINK
You would think with as serious as this sounds that there would be an equally complicated solution. However, the answer is much simpler than you think: practice good oral hygiene.
Simple measures like brushing your teeth, flossing, and regularly visiting your dentist are simple but very effective ways of preventing oral-systemic links from becoming a problem.
If you want to avoid oral-systemic links altogether, try visiting Wurzbach Parkway Family Dental and enroll in our WPFD Wellness Plans. Patients enroll as members and are “incentivized” to have regular dental hygiene done in order to prevent or minimize periodontal disease. Additionally, we test blood pressure on each of our patients at every visit, and we will soon be adding diabetes screenings for our patients as, oftentimes, patients see their dentist more often than their medical doctors.
Periodontal disease can be the gateway to many more harmful diseases, let us take care of you and ensure that’s something you never have to deal with.
