Good oral and dental hygiene is important in helping to prevent bad breath, tooth decay and gum disease-and overall, just maintaining a healthy smile and teeth. However, recent studies are also showing that keeping your mouth and teeth healthy can also help keep other medical conditions at bay. And, in turn, not keeping up with your oral care can play into serious medical problems.
Drs. Robert and Mandy Shearer at Soddy Smiles are sharing some important points with patients on just how their mouth can be a big factor in staying healthy on the whole.
“Your mouth can be an important window to what else is going on inside you,” said Dr. Mandy. “There are many conditions that can start with oral signs and symptoms, and keeping up with regular dental care and hygiene is your first line of defense.”
If you don’t brush and floss regularly to keep your teeth clean, plaque, a natural occurrence of bacteria in the mouth, can build up along the gumline and make an environment for additional bacteria to build up in the spaces between your gums and teeth, Dr. Robert noted.
“This is known as gingivitis, and if left without care or diagnosis, it can cause more serious infections called periodontitis, or trench mouth,” he shared.