A bright white smile means a lot more than making a good impression. Good dental hygiene contributes significantly to your overall health. Today, we’re going to be looking into all aspects of dental health – how poor dental care can negatively impact other aspects of your health, and how to properly take care of your smile, with some insights from respected Canadian oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr Louis Bourget.
Take your dental health seriously.
There are so many aspects of our health to consider and concern ourselves over. Dentistry may be an under-appreciated branch of medicine, according to Dr Bourget, but it’s crucial not to forget how important it is to maintain a healthy smile.
Cavities are something to consider seriously when it comes to your overall medical and dental health. Also known as tooth decay, cavities occur when acids and bacteria attack the enamel, and gradually break down the interior of your tooth. This can lead to tooth sensitivity or even pain and infection when left untreated. Abscesses can then form, which can be excruciatingly painful and dangerous. In severe, and rare, cases these abscesses can lead to sepsis or other life-threatening conditions. So even though a cavity or filling treatment might seem like just another routine trip to the dentist, leaving them untreated can lead to serious complications.
Gum disease is another result of poor dental hygiene. Also known as periodontitis, gum disease can develop when the tissues that support your teeth get infected. Early symptoms of this may be gum inflammation, bleeding, and even loose teeth. There are multiple stages of gum disease, with the worst stage leading to bone loss and eventually, losing teeth altogether.
Tooth loss can be damaging in so many ways.
According to the National Library of Medicine, good dental health has a major impact on our life expectancy, as well as our quality of life. Having fewer healthy teeth has a major impact on the foods you are able to eat and digest. Not being able to chew our food properly can lead to indigestion. But fewer healthy teeth has a lot more drastic effects than simple indigestion. “Our oral health is a good sign of our overall health,” says Bourget. “Oral frailty may have strong links to overall physical frailty, which can have hugely negative impacts on our day-to-day lives that can in turn lessen our life spans.”
Our smile is our confidence.
Smiling is (hopefully) something we do almost every day. It can define how we communicate with others and help define ourselves. Having a smile that is severely damaged can cause mental and emotional pain that is hard to manage. You’re far more likely to smile with a mouth full of healthy, good-looking teeth. For one, it’s possible that the very act of smiling can make us happier. Smiling has a significant impact on our mental well-being – especially when we are smiling with others. There is bound to be a negative impact on your overall mood when you are too afraid or self-conscious to smile.
Not to mention how pain and discomfort from bone loss and other dental conditions can affect our mental health. Chronic pain in any form can have a severe impact on our motivation, outlook, and overall mood. Chronic tooth pain can lead to poor nutrition from a bad diet, which can in turn lead to worsening mental health. Compounded with the social stigma of smiling with “bad” teeth, your oral health can have major implications for your mental well-being.
Poor oral hygiene can hurt a lot more than your smile.
Bacteria build-up in our mouths can cause more serious issues than gingivitis or cavities. According to Dr Bourget, “There is a strong connection between our mouths and many medical conditions.” Bacteria that build up on our teeth and gums can also build up in other places in our bodies. This bacteria can also transfer into the bloodstream and cause our arteries to build up plaque, leading to cardiovascular disease. Or it can get into our lungs and cause respiratory infections, like pneumonia.
Preventative care is essential.
“The simple act of brushing and flossing consistently is one of our best defenses against the many impacts of poor dental health,” says Dr. Bourget, “and regularly going to the dentist is our first line of defense.” When we brush and floss every day there is far less chance for plaque and other bacteria to build up in our mouths and spread elsewhere in our bodies. Getting routine checkups with your dentist is a surefire way to detect any symptoms of poor dental hygiene or compromised medical health early on and reassess how we take care of our smiles and our bodies.