Many people don’t pay enough attention to their oral health. Little do they know that their oral health is the window to their overall well-being. It’s because your mouth is full of bacteria. Most of these bacteria are harmless, especially if you can keep them under control.
Still, one must understand how crucial oral health is by knowing how it can affect overall wellness.
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Common Health Conditions Connected To Oral Health
The first thing you must know about dental health and overall wellness is that many health conditions are linked to poor oral health. Below are the common health conditions that you can expect to have if you continue to practice poor oral health:
Hypertension and Heart Disease
The first health condition you can get if you don’t care for your oral health is hypertension, which can lead to heart disease. The bacterium in your mouth will enter your bloodstream, which could harm your blood flow. Having this condition can hurt your pocket as the medication can be expensive. Moreover, it’s also a risky condition that threatens your life.
But remember, poor oral health isn’t the only factor that could cause hypertension and heart disease. You must consider and avoid many things to ensure you won’t acquire such conditions.
It’s also vital that you take the right medication to address these conditions, which might be challenging for some people due to how expensive medications can be. Thankfully, prescription medication discount cards and coupons are available nowadays. You can get Lisinopril Discounts for your purchase if you avail of a medicine discount card.
As a result, you can ensure you’re taking the right dose of medicine at the right time without skipping.
Diabetes
- Doctor checking blood sugar level with glucometer. Treatment of diabetes concept.
Another chronic disease linked to poor oral health is diabetes. This is because the oral bacterium is known to cause tissue inflammation, which weakens your body’s ability to use insulin to control blood glucose.
Remember that high blood sugar in the blood provides bacteria with an ideal environment to foster and grow. If you’re at high risk of developing diabetes, you must ensure you properly care for your dental health.
Endocarditis
Endocarditis is an infection that causes inflammation in your heart’s chambers and valve’s inner lining. The typical cause of endocarditis are germs and bacterium from other parts of your body, like your mouth, to enter your bloodstream and stick itself to specific areas of your heart.
Although this condition is rare, having poor dental hygiene can increase your chance of acquiring it. This might be a rare disease, but it can be fatal.
Oral Cancer
Oral cancer is one of the most common cancers in both Southeast Asian and Indian continents. One of the most common causes of this cancer is tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. However, a study has noticed that poor oral health hygiene co-exists among oral cancer patients. Both tobacco and alcohol are known carcinogens. It means that these products can cause cancer. That said, consuming these carcinogens regularly, plus poor oral hygiene will increase the risk of acquiring oral cancer.
The Link Between Oral And Overall Health
The link between oral health and overall health is obvious. The mouth is the main pathway of our body and is an ideal place for bacteria to thrive and multiply. You must remember that approximately six million bacteria live in a person’s mouth.
It was already mentioned earlier that practicing good oral hygiene helps keep these bacteria under control. On the contrary, if you have poor dental hygiene practices, expect these bacteria to grow and multiply, which can enter your body and cause serious health conditions like the ones mentioned above.
Ways To Control Bacteria In Your Mouth
There are many ways you can do to ensure that you are practicing good dental hygiene. One of the common ways is ensuring that you brush your teeth and floss regularly. Brushing your teeth at least twice daily and flossing at least once daily is advised.
Brushing doesn’t only clean your teeth, tongue, gums, and cheeks. It can also help stimulate your gums to keep them healthy and prevent them from getting gum diseases. When brushing your teeth, make sure that you use fluoride toothpaste.
You must also use mouthwash after brushing to ensure that the in-between of your teeth are cleaned and protected. It’s also highly advised to avoid smoking as it is a major factor that can damage your teeth and gums.
Lastly, you must schedule a regular visit to your dentist. Your dentist is your partner in maintaining good oral health and becoming healthy overall.
Bottom Line
Good oral hygiene is vital, especially to stay healthy and avoid chronic and life-threatening diseases. That’s why it’s highly advised to parents to teach their children proper oral hygiene as young as possible.
It’s never too late to start practicing proper oral hygiene. Not only to have healthy teeth and gums and breathe that smells good, but also to ensure that you can lower your risk of certain health conditions like the ones mentioned above.
