The human body is a vital structure that is vulnerable to succumb to health illnesses when in contact with infections present in every part of the body. When we talk of a good dental hygiene, it surpasses cleaning the teeth, maintaining a minty and fresh breath or keeping a hearty smile. Beyond having tooth decay, there are multiple reasons why a good dental hygiene is recommendable by medical experts. It is not just about looking good. In fact, poor dental hygiene may lead to health complications greater than an unpleasant smile.
Even though your work is to look after your teeth on a daily basis, the dentist’s work is even deeper. A dentist ensures that your teeth and its bone structure are healthy holistically. He/she can spot problematic areas in your dental environment and treat them before they lead to chronic illnesses. They tell you ways of improving the dental hygiene. You will definitely need a dentist.
What is Dental Hygiene?
Before we even scrutinize the reasons as to why you ought to maintain a good dental health, let us understand what exactly dental hygiene is (1). Dental hygiene is the overall care put to keep the mouth, teeth and gums healthy. It not only involves brushing the teeth on a daily basis, but is also more of flossing, using mouthwash to kill any bacteria present in the mouth and having a healthy and rich diet. Good dental hygiene involves eating healthy foods (2), avoiding sugary snacks and tobacco products, rinsing the mouth after meals and also brushing the teeth at least twice per day. Regular visiting of your dentist and carrying out dental exams also plays a part in upholding a good dental hygiene. Time and money may be the necessary raw materials needed here. Discipline should also be a core value. This article explains the reasons why you ought to always have a good dental hygiene.
Let us take a scoop in 8 Simple yet Important Reasons you should have a good dental hygiene.
1. Poor dental hygiene leads to disease infections
The academy of General Dentistry has shown that there is a significant relationship between the general health and dental hygiene (3). Many may not realize that poor dental health can lead to heart issues, chronic inflammation or diabetes among other diseases. An environment for accumulated bacteria is created along your gum-line when dirt and food residuals build up in the mouth. This is especially when you do not brush and floss your teeth on a regular basis. You are then prone to get gingivitis that may further lead to a more serious infection of the gum called Periodontitis. You wouldn’t want to reach this severe level. Would you?
Even though these mouth bacteria may not enter directly into your bloodstream, invasive dental treatments tend to provide loopholes for entry of these microorganisms. Nonetheless, the different medication and treatment types that limit the flow of saliva and disrupt the normal bacteria balance in the mouth may possibly compromise the mouth’s defenses. This allows bacteria into the bloodstream. A person with a strong immune system may not be greatly affected. However, if having a weak immune system, the presence of dental bacteria in your bloodstream results of body infections like infective endocarditis. This is dangerous.
2. Death
If poor dental health can cause gum diseases and affect the general body health, then, it is not shocking that it can as well weaken the body to the point of death. Since the bloodstream is affected, the other organs of the body are put at risk. Causing potential diseases and illnesses to organs like the heart and the respiratory system and triggering strokes or coronary artery diseases, you can die prematurely. Therefore, carefully and responsibly take care of your dental health.
3. Your mouth is a mirror of your health
The health of your mouth greatly predicts the general health of your body. In other words, a glimpse of the state of your mouth will tell the doctor what is going on in your body organs. Very many health issues are as a result of mouth infections. Medical research has shown that most of the systemic diseases will always manifest in the mouth. Ranging from dry mouth, mouth ulcers, gum diseases and swollen gums can all lead to various diseases. Good dental health will prevent body illnesses and diseases.
4. Oral pain, tooth loss, arthritis and asthma
Gingivitis develops to Periodontitis that in turn leads to tooth loss. The Office of the Surgeon General reported that oral pain is predominantly as a result of infected gums. These types of gums become incapable of providing support to teeth, hence chances of tooth loss are high. Mouth infections will cause many complications ranging from arthritis to asthma.
Dental cavities tend to be very painful. These are places in the mouth where decay has really eaten up the enamel and exposed the roots of the teeth. Upon taking very hot or very cold foods, teeth become very painful. The danger of cavities is that they do not have symptoms until noteworthy damages are caused to the teeth. This is why you will need to maintain a good dental health.
5. Low self esteem
A poor dental hygiene like gum disease or cavities may tamper with your ability to speak properly or eat well. Depending on the level, you may even feel pain or develop a bad breath. All these leads to a lowered self-esteem and hence an inability to be in a group of people where you are to actively involve. Dental discomforts are prone to occur. Do not reach a level where your dental hygiene affects your ability to go to work. This may sound hard and unbelievable, but it is very possible.
Crooked teeth, missing teeth, diseased teeth or misshapen jaws can impede your verbal speech. Chewing food may become painful and thus very difficult. The misaligned jaws or crooked teeth can be treated by orthodontic procedures. These procedures may include the use of braces and any other techniques to help correct the problems. Even though they are expensive, they are worth each penny spent from your pocket. You will maintain your cute look, heal within a short time and have your normal self-esteem.
6. It is expensive
When your teeth are diseased and needs to be cured, the corrective procedures may be very expensive and even exceed your budgeted pockets. In this case, prevention becomes affordable than cure. Upon discovering the symptoms of poor dental health, do not waste time. It is cheaper to treat dental complications at early stages than in advanced stages. In fact, modern technology on dental health recommend teeth treatment in early stages as it is not only cheap but is also less painful.
7. Digestion
Digestion begins with the chemical and physical processes that occur in the mouth. In Rutgers School, Rena Zelig – The Manager of the Master of Science in Medical Nutrition Program – made a very simple yet biologically true statement. He said that, since the mouth acts as the entryway for food and fluid ingestion, when its reliability is impaired, then your functional capacity to consume a sufficient diet is adversely affected. While this may sound very true, it is sad that most people forget that they are the ones to take care of their dental health and end up neglecting this.
Problems with the mouth can in turn lead to intestinal failure or bowel syndrome. Orthodontic procedures on your mouth will greatly help to improve your appearance. They as well play a major role in taming your chewing hence improved digestion of swallowing food.
8. Pregnant women
A good dental hygiene is very important for pregnant women. The pregnant women plagued with gum diseases have the risk of giving birth to low-weight babies. Some of these babies are usually born preterm. Diseases like Periodontitis are what may lead to the premature or low-birthweight births in pregnant women.
Do not risk
Experiencing pain, swellings, bleeding gums, blisters, tenderness or noticeable changes in texture and color of your soft tissues? These could possible symptoms of a potentially poor dental hygiene. As we have discovered why you ought to have a good dental hygiene, it is also reasonable to look at the adverse effects of not having a good dental hygiene.
These include:
- For pregnant women, poor dental hygiene may lead to low-birth-weight infants.
- A Higher risk of having heart diseases.
- Adverse effects of other body organs due to infections of the mouth
- Development of bowel syndromes, intestinal failure and other digestive disorders due to chewing problems
Your dental health team should comprise of yourself and health experts. Together, dental problems can be diminished. Dental health experts include: dental specialist, periodontist, orthodontist, dentist, oral and maxillofacial surgeons and a dental hygienist. A well trained and experiences dentist can have diverse knowledge of dental health. Settle on one that will offer you nothing but rich and satisfactory results. With a dental expert, you will be able to maintain healthy gums, teeth and mouth.
Dental plaque is the sticky pale yellow film that forms on the teeth. When saliva, fluids and food combine, plaque forms between the teeth and along the gums. They begin forming 4-12 hours after the teeth are brushed and that is why it is recommendable to brush the teeth thoroughly twice in a day and also floss daily. Even though the work of the saliva is to protect you from invaders, it may not always carry out this job fully. Approximately 500 species of microorganisms have their habitat in your mouth at any particular time. These bacteria are what brings this type of dental complication. The condition is sticky and forms a colorless and cling film to your teeth. It is just ugly!
Basically, any long-term gum-line infections will eventually lead to the loss of teeth. This may not even be the end of such consequences. It is medically believed that there is another significant relationship between dental infections and cardiovascular diseases. Even though not well proven, it is worth believing that these teeth condition may lead to:
- Poorly controlled diabetes – Diabetes puts you at the risk of developing gum diseases. Chronic gum diseases may even make it very difficult to control diabetes. Gum infections tend to result in insulin resistance which alter with the normal blood sugar control.
- Cardiovascular diseases – Inflammations of the mouth due to microorganisms like bacteria play a major role in clogging arteries and causing blood clots in the arteries. Shockingly, presence of bacteria in the mouth may cause inflammation in the body. The inflammation may act as a stepping stone for the development of atherosclerotic plaques inside the heart’s arteries hence increasing the risk of having strokes or heart attacks. The more intense the infection, the higher the risk of having these unpredictable diseases. Note that gum diseases and the loss of teeth may in one way or the other contribute to formation of plaques in the carotid artery.
- Preterm births – The risk of preterm deliveries and giving birth to an under weight baby is high in the presence of severe gum infections. According to a medical research carried out by the National Institute of Dental Research, an estimate of 18% of preterm babies born in the US per year is as a result of oral diseases. This has been made possible since, oral bacteria emit toxins which move into the mother’s bloodstream and reach her placenta. This interferes with the normal growth of the fetus. Development of its body parts is tampered with. Hence the health of the fetus is affected. Nonetheless, oral infections will stimulate the production of labor-triggering fluid that initiates premature labor hence preterm births. It is this serious.
No one would want to encounter the risk of poor oral health. It is unthinkable. The only solution out is to resolve to practicing proper oral hygiene on a daily basis. It is a long-term investment for your general health and worth the time and resources placed in it. If you were not having sufficient reasons of taking care of your oral health, this ought to be a compelling advice for good and healthy oral habits. A good dental hygiene is very important. Just like we said at the beginning, “Beyond having tooth decay, there are multiple reasons why a good dental hygiene is recommendable by medical experts. It is not just about looking good. In fact, poor dental hygiene may lead to health complications greater than an unpleasant smile. ” You cannot waste more time. Start today and save your life!
(2) Healthy Nutrition for Healthy Teeth
(3) The Surprising Connections Between Oral Health and Well Being
by Andrew Ellis
