Armed to the teeth
It makes my molars ache to tell valued readers that in 2018, Dentistry Today magazine reported that toothbrush.org gave our state the dubious distinction of having the worst oral health in the nation. Ouch!
That started me thinking about how many of us don’t solicit or receive critical dental care, and the damaging health effects that can have. So I turned to Dr. Derrick Johnson of Bentonville and Mountain Home (my dental specialist in resolving damaged, missing and infected teeth) to discuss the serious problem of poor dental health that reaches far beyond our borders to affect nearly 70 million Americans, or roughly a fifth of our population.
Johnson named his practice Integrated Dentistry because he recognizes the connection between what transpires in our mouths and our overall health.
The American Dental Association agrees with Johnson, in saying our mouths are “a window into the health of the body” that can show signs of nutritional deficiencies or generalized infection. “For example, systemic diseases—those that affect the entire body, such as diabetes, AIDS and Sjögren’s syndrome—may first become apparent because of mouth lesions or other oral problems.”
The problems come because so many of us don’t realize just how critical it is to deal with our dental problems as they arise.
Dr. Johnson cited some potential negative effects likely stemming from teeth and gums that become infected.
For example, he said, researchers have shown about 64 million Americans who’ve lived at least three decades had gum disease. That’s about one-fifth of us. And that disease likely is tied to diseases of the body including heart disease, stroke, breast cancer and diabetes, to name a few.
There is a link between oral and bodily (or systemic) diseases. Health problems potentially affecting organs and tissues that reduce the body’s ability to ward off inflammation and infection are made worse and possibly begin with disease in the mouth, he explained.
This makes it all the more important to treat inflammation in the gums before it possibly triggers more significant heath problems.
Research has shown those like myself, a Type II diabetic who had severe gum disease through much of my teen and young adult years, are prone to lose more teeth than those without that disease. I suffered with gum issues and related tooth problems most of my adult life until having implants installed and bringing that part of life to a close.
Gum disease also could affect a diabetic’s ability to regulate glucose levels, establishing a circular relationship since the inability to control one’s glucose levels creates an environment for the bacteria that cause gum disease (they thrive on sugars) in order to grow. Experts agree controlling blood sugar levels decreases the risk of gum disease, as well as other diabetic complications, according to Dr. Johnson.
As a teenager, swollen gums were the main symptom of my gum disease. In my case of periodontitis, the bacterial infection had been flourishing beneath the gum line, a condition which becomes a concern for anyone with heart disease, as bacteria under the gums can travel throughout the body along vascular pathways, including those leading back to the heart. And that means the more disease causing bad bacteria in your mouth, the more you could have invading your heart and contributing to widespread inflammation. By addressing oral health issues, one can reduce the number of harmful bacteria that could otherwise present a problem for your heart and whole system, Dr. Johnson said.
German researchers found gum disease increased the risk of an ischemic stroke when the patient also had severe periodontitis, particularly for those under 60. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blocked blood vessel to the brain. As with the apparent relationship with heart disease, the link between gum disease and stroke lies in the amount and nature of inflammation as well as hardening of the arteries.
As for the matter of gum disease related to breast cancer, researchers at the University of Buffalo’s School of Public Health discovered post-menopausal women with gum disease had a 14 percent increased risk over those without it. Women who smoked in the previous 20 years increased their cancer risk by over 30 percent.
Dr. Johnson said research continues on a possible cause-and-effect relationship between all these systemic diseases and gum disease inflammation. Yet there’s little doubt gum disease and problems in a person’s mouth can’t possibly be beneficial to the situation in any of these medical conditions. “A linkage exists between gum disease and such other diseases, particularly when those with gum disease have unhealthy lifestyles.”
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.