Oral Health Is Connected to Whole Body Health

Oral health is linked to changes in mental, emotional, and social wellbeing, but it is also linked to significant health impacts, including damage to the heart, lungs, immune system, pancreas, and more. Chronic illnesses like diabetes and dementia have been linked to prolonged dental health struggles.

Financial harm is also associated with poor dental health.

Oral Hygiene & Health: Supporting the Rest of Your Body

Maintaining good oral hygiene and oral health is an important way to stay healthy overall — not just because you feel better and look better with healthy teeth, but also because your dental health is intricately tied to the health of other systems in your body. Severe gum disease, for example, is known to cause problems in the rest of your body, including severe infection, problems with underlying conditions, and an increased risk of certain conditions associated with old age.

Healthy People 2020 identified oral health as one of the top 10 indicators of good health alongside other indicators, including access to health care, good nutrition, and disease risks, including cancer, HIV, and heart disease. Good oral health has been associated with mental wellness factors, including increased happiness and self-esteem, due to feeling better about smiling and laughing.

People who are lower income are more likely to struggle with tooth decay and disease because of poor diet and higher stress levels. To an extent, good oral health indicates lower risk of illnesses associated with poor food, less exercise, and high-stress lifestyles.

It is important to maintain good oral hygiene, including visiting the dentist regularly. This helps you to avoid serious tooth, gum, and jaw problems, and it also improves overall health.

Major Organ Systems & Health Issues Impacted by Dental Hygiene

Gum disease is one of the leading signs of oral health problems. This is an infection of the soft tissues around your teeth, mainly caused by the buildup of plaque.

Once the gums are infected, they may turn red instead of pink, bleed more often, hurt, and feel inflamed or hot. Your teeth may feel looser and like they are wiggling around. It is possible that, even with some treatment, gum disease does not fully go away. This can cause wider problems in other parts of your body.

Problems associated with poor oral health can cause damage to your body overall and increase your risk of several serious health conditions. Various body systems can be impacted by disease.

Financial Health Also Impacted by Oral Health

Organ systems throughout the body may be sensitive to oral health issues. Damage in one area can cause damage in the other. If you have oral health problems, you are also at risk of suffering mental, emotional, social, and financial harm.

You may worry about the appearance of your smile, which may cause you to restrict your expression of emotion in social settings and negatively impact how you perceive yourself. Out-of-pocket costs related to dental health issues can make you worry about your ability to support yourself and your family financially. Putting off dental care can increase the physical damage incurred as well as the potential long-term financial damage, which unfortunately makes some people shy away from even getting started.

Conditions Are Correlated but Not Always Causally Linked

It is important to remember that underlying conditions can make oral health problems harder to manage.

Gum disease and dental problems do not cause underlying conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or immunology issues. Instead, gum disease and these issues are linked together, with the presence of one being linked to an increased risk of the other. This means they are correlated, for the most part. However, it does mean that if you struggle with poor oral hygiene or health, you may have an underlying condition increasing the risk of this issue, which you should discuss with your doctor.

For example, if you develop bad breath and your dentist finds lesions in your mouth, this could be a sign of HIV. Your struggle with halitosis and gum disease did not cause HIV; rather, HIV triggered the oral health issues.

Changes in your saliva can be used to determine if you came into contact with a toxic substance or drug. Your dentist can also detect changes in your mouth that indicate oral and pharyngeal cancers. About 35,000 cases of these diseases are diagnosed every year, and there are about 8,000 deaths associated with mouth and throat cancers.

Oral health can also indicate lifestyle differences that impact your teeth and gums. This includes smoking, poor diet, reduced exercise, and alcohol consumption. If you struggle with substances, eating too much sugar, or lack of moderate exercise, your teeth and gums can reflect these issues. In turn, these problems are associated with a higher risk of heart disease, lung damage, and other organ issues.

Good Oral Health: Maintaining a Healthy Life Overall

There are ways to reduce your risk of harming other organ systems in your body due to dental problems. The best methods are to establish a good oral hygiene routine, including brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice per day, and to visit your dentist one to two times per year for cleanings and checkups. If you have existing gum disease, tooth decay, or other problems, you may need more intensive dental treatment.

Only about 44 percent of people in the United States, from 2 years old into adulthood, visit the dentist each year, on average. This means that too many Americans are struggling with oral health problems for which they don’t seek help.

Good oral hygiene can reduce the severity of systemic problems, but better oral health can also boost mental and emotional wellbeing. If you take the right steps, you can feel good about your smile and emotional expression.