A healthy mouth and teeth are your greatest assets.
Our teeth play an important role in our lives. They’re essential for chewing and digesting food, they’re also used for talking and speaking clearly, not to mention that teeth add shape and beauty to our face.
Maintaining good oral health is one of the vital steps you must take to guarantee good overall health. What you eat is equally important. According to the College of Dentistry, “healthy diets that minimize starchy and sugary foods are important if you want to keep bad bacteria out of your mouth.”
The objective of good oral hygiene is to prevent the accumulation of plaque and tartar, to eliminate the symptoms of periodontal disease, and to prevent halitosis.
Next time you run out of the house without brushing your teeth, think again. Brushing is one of the most straightforward actions.
However, brushing your teeth properly with a good toothpaste that produces white foam can save your life.
The worst that most of us expect when we forget to brush is plaque buildup and damage.
Poor oral hygiene is also associated with several diseases, including some cancers, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and pregnancy complications.
How Gum Disease Can Affect Your Health?
The problem starts with bacteria that live on the surface of the teeth. Bacteria cause gingivitis (inflammation of the gums), which is considered as gum sensitivity and bleeding when brushing.
The immune system then removes white blood cells and inflammatory chemicals, which further damage the gums and destroy soft tissue and bone that pierces teeth (periodontitis), causing teeth to fall out.
Inflammation also affects the tissue between the teeth and jaws. If you fail to treat this as soon as possible, you may experience acute necrotizing gingivitis that is as horrible as it sounds.
Gum disease doesn’t appear in the majority of patients until later when the teeth are loose or cause nutritional difficulties.
Once the swelling begins in the mouth, problems elsewhere, including the heart, can quickly develop. In extreme cases, unhealthy oral habits can lead to oral cancer and diabetes -- both diseases can affect the soft tissues of the mouth, according to Canadian Living.
The mouth with bad oral hygiene can cause the release of large amounts of chemicals called mediators, which are the same causes of inflammation associated with heart disease.
Chemicals and bacteria enter the bloodstream and are transported to other parts of the body, where they cause inflammation and damage to several vital organs.
Poor dental habits can do a lot of harm to the body. Let’s consider a few of the effects:
- Effect on the brain
According to a statistical survey, people with severe periodontitis have Alzheimer's disease three times more often.
In another study, stroke patients had a certain level of bacteria in their saliva, which showed an association between oral hygiene and stroke risk.
- The Lungs
If you’re on your way to the hospital, bring a toothbrush with you. A recent study found that treating oral care patients reduced the incidence of hospital pneumonia by 39%.
- Reducing the risk of cancer
Postmenopausal women who have periodontal disease have a higher risk of developing breast, esophageal, gallbladder, skin, and lung cancer.
- Effect on the heart
The endocarditis is an infection of the inner lining of the heart chambers and heart valves caused by germs entering the bloodstream, which is quite rare; it can be serious.
Also, the National Institutes of Health warns that "poor dental hygiene and unhealthy gums increase the risk of infection."
Healthy teeth can reduce the risk of some serious medical problems, including stroke and heart disease.
Early signs of certain conditions may be seen in the mouth, including oral cancer. For this reason, the dentist examines the mouth, lips, jaw, and throat.
How Healthy Dental Hygiene Can Save Your Life:
- Brushing can improve the health of your heart
Endocarditis, a bacterial infection of heart tissue, is associated with bacteria in your mouth. This is how bacteria in your mouth can cause endocarditis in vulnerable populations.
This was so serious that the Canadian Heart Association Committee was asked to establish an antibiotic regimen as the recommended standard for specific oral/dental procedures in 2007.
- Brushing can improve brain health (like Alzheimer's)
Your brain is an excellent organ. Therefore, it is well protected by many problems. One of the essential protection mechanisms is the blood-brain barrier, which prevents many connections from entering the brain.
One thing that is quickly passed by this system is bacteria. It is essential to see how sensitive the brain is to non-optimal inflammatory functions because many bacteria produce inflammatory toxins.
Also, researchers from the University of Bergen have established a clear link between gingivitis and Alzheimer's disease.
"We have found DNA evidence that the bacteria that cause gingivitis can move from the mouth to the brain," said researcher Peter Middel of the Broegelmanns Research Laboratory, Institute of Clinical Sciences, University of Bergen (UiB).
- Brushing can prevent kidney disease
Other studies have linked glomerulonephritis, with the streptococcus mentioned above in the mouth and throat.
In more in-depth reviews, scientists have found a positive relationship with kidney disease and chronic bacteria in the mouth.
Therefore, hygiene and dental care are now part of the standard guidelines for patients with kidney failure and chronic kidney disease.
Also, dental health is currently being tested for other conditions such as arthritis and certain types of cancer. This is a more significant reason to brush your teeth and clean your teeth regularly and every day.
People with gum disease have a higher tendency to heart attack and stroke. The relationship with premature birth, lung, and kidney disease is also known.
Gum disease also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, improved oral hygiene seems to improve diabetes control.
Tips on proper dental hygiene
- Use fluoride toothpaste. It helps harden enamel and reduce the risk of tooth decay.
- Brush until clean. Brushing can take between two and three minutes.
- Brush your teeth every day. Use slow and gentle sawing movements.
- Reduce intake of acidic drinks such as soft drinks, fruit juices, and liver. Nutritional acids soften dental material and dissolve minerals in tooth enamel, creating holes (cavities or caries). In severe cases, teeth can be "eaten" up to the gums.
- Limit sweet foods. Bacteria in dental plaque turn sugar into acid.
- Protect your teeth from injury. Wear a full face shield or full-face helmet when you exercise.
- Try to save broken teeth. If possible, hold the teeth in place until you immediately seek advice from your dentist. If this is not possible, wrap your teeth in plastic or put them in milk and seek dental help immediately.
- Don't use your teeth apart from chewing food. If you use it to break nuts, remove bottle caps, or tear open packaging, you run the risk of cutting yourself or even breaking teeth.
- Contact your dentist for routine checks. You should also visit a dentist if you have dental problems, e.g., Toothache or bleeding gums.
Using a soft brush with a circular motion, you can minimize the risk of gum disease when you brush properly, especially with wool. Toothpaste must form enough foam to cover the teeth, gums, and tongue.
This helps eliminate all bacteria.
Electric or powered toothbrushes are increasingly popular these days, you might consider using one.
Recent scientific studies show that a power brush with a "rotational oscillation effect" (head rotating in a single direction and then in the other direction) is more effective in reducing plaque and gingivitis than brushing manually and not damaging the gums.
Using your toothbrush and keeping good oral hygiene will help to prevent tooth decay and other oral-related diseases. This daily routine can save your life!