{"id":4638,"date":"2011-09-07T14:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T18:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=4638"},"modified":"2011-09-07T15:20:43","modified_gmt":"2011-09-07T19:20:43","slug":"health-starts-at-you-front-door-your-mouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=4638","title":{"rendered":"Health starts at your front door, your mouth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your oral health has a bigger impact on your overall health than you might think<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By Dr. Stephanie McGann<\/strong>, DMD, FAGD, <\/strong>Columnist, UnionvilleTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>If the eyes are windows to the soul, then our mouths are talking about us behind our backs. What I mean by that is so many medical conditions are related to our oral health. I\u2019m going to take today\u2019s column to show how important good oral health is to our entire body.<\/p>\n

This mouth\/body connection has gotten a lot of press lately as more and more studies are showing a significant connection between our medical and dental conditions. So I am going to help make sense of some of these situations.\u00a0 In medicine, knowledge is power and I firmly believe that the better a person, understands their situations, the more equipped they are to make good healthcare decisions.<\/p>\n

Of course, we start with a peek at gum diseases.\u00a0 Most gum diseases including gingivitis (bleeding gums) are related to accumulations of harmful bacteria in the mouth.\u00a0\u00a0 There are many types of bacteria, some are more destructive than others. \u00a0This chronic infection usually has no pain. \u00a0\u00a0Gum disease can lead to tooth loss, bad breath, bleeding gums and \u201cother health problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today we learn more.<\/p>\n

In an individual with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), Asthma, pneumonia or other lung disease may have a diminished prognosis because of dental infections.\u00a0 Bacteria from the mouth tend to work their way into the lungs.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Most people with compromised lung function breathe through their mouth more often. They have a lesser ability to cough and adequately clear mucus from their lungs.\u00a0\u00a0 Now imagine the destructive bacteria from gum disease moving into the lungs.\u00a0\u00a0 Not only is their body fighting gum disease (which nobody really worried about because it was the \u201cleast\u00a0 of their problems\u201d) now that untreated gum disease is making their life threatening lung problems worse.<\/p>\n

Oral bacteria can clog the arteries \u2013 yes that\u2019s right, clumps of bacteria from the mouth can lodge on plaque (build ups) found in the arteries causing a blockage. If that blockage is in the coronary arteries we have a heart attack, if the blockage is in the brain we have a stroke.\u00a0 \u00a0Some people are required to take antibiotics prior to certain dental procedures specifically to prevent these clumps of bacterial growth. \u00a0When, we keep our oral bacteria in check and we have improved our health in so many ways.<\/p>\n

Diabetics develop gum disease (periodontitis) more easily because diabetes slows the body’s natural healing process. In addition, blood-sugar levels may be adversely affected by advanced gum disease, causing complications for diabetics. Research shows that type2 diabetics who are poorly controlled are significantly more at risk for gum disease.\u00a0 So gum disease in a diabetic is a double edged sword. The diabetes makes the gum disease worse, and the gum disease makes the diabetes worse.\u00a0\u00a0 Diabetics need to be motivated to maintain their oral health as it is important to their overall situation.<\/p>\n

A word for the ladies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s bad enough to develop osteoporosis. What they don\u2019t tell you is that you are now at a greater risk for tooth loss if you develop gum disease.<\/p>\n

Now a story \u2013 Once upon a time a lovely young lady went to the dentist. She was expecting a child. When the dentist suggested she needed to have her gum disease treated but he wanted to speak with her OB\/GYN first, her reply was \u201csuit yourself but I\u2019m going to lose this baby anyway.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently this young lady had tried numerous times to have a child but always ended in a miscarriage.\u00a0\u00a0 The dentist spoke with the young lady\u2019s physician and he related the same thing.\u00a0 So with the blessing of the OB the dentist treated the periodontal disease.\u00a0 Weeks turned into months. One day the young lady returned to the dental office – with a stroller. She believes that this dentist saved her baby.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

While treating gum disease cannot prevent a miscarriage and in some cases may not be recommended during pregnancy, the studies do show that pregnant patients with periodontal disease are significantly more likely to have underweight or pre-term babies.<\/p>\n

These are just a few of the hundreds of interactions between the mouth and the rest of the body. It is my goal as a dentist to bring my patients into good oral health and help keep them that way.\u00a0 Gum disease often has no pain and no symptoms. Regular dental visits are vitally important to maintain good oral health and catch small things before they become a larger concern. If you know someone who is suffering from medical conditions, make sure they take care of their mouth. It\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

Learn more at<\/p>\n

\u00a0http:\/\/brandywinesmilecenter.com\/?page_id=631<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Stephanie McGann is a resident of the Unionville area and along with her partner, Dr. Marie Scott, operates The Brandywine Smile Center<\/a>, a family-friendly dental practice in Concordville. She is a Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Your oral health has a bigger impact on your overall health than you might think By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD, FAGD, Columnist, UnionvilleTimes.com If the eyes are windows to the soul, then our mouths are talking about us behind our backs. What I mean by that is so many medical conditions are related to our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,403],"tags":[553,404,554,552],"class_list":["post-4638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-health","tag-bacteria","tag-dental-health","tag-gum-disease","tag-oral-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}