Your Whole-Body Health Feeds Back on Your Oral Health

03/20/2022

It’s pretty easy to think the mouth and the body are separate when it comes to health and hygiene. After all, you go to a family dentist instead of a doctor when you need dental care. But think about it – what do our mouths do? Chew, drink, speak, breathe, clench, grind, swallow. And what parts of the body let us do all those things? Our heart, lungs, sinuses, ears, nose, throat – your mouth interacts with nearly every other system in your body. What’s more, it’s now nutrients and fuel get to the inside of your body. Which means it’s also how bacteria and viruses get into our body.

Okay, so what’s the point?

If your mouth and the rest of your body are playing a feedback game, it follows that bad oral health leads to bad overall health, and vice versa. And it’s true! There are very common major illnesses that affect millions of Americans every day. And it’s not just affecting their bodies – it’s affecting their teeth and gums. For instance, one early symptom of the HIV/AIDS virus is mucosal lesions inside the mouth. And people with osteoporosis don’t only need to worry about bad falls, they need to worry about loose teeth and jaw deterioration. We’ll discuss these in more detail shortly. But first, let’s take a look at the other side of this feedback loop – how can poor dental hygiene negatively affect the body?

The “And Vice Versa”

Just like health condition affect your oral health, a poor dental care routine can hurt your overall health. Two examples are:

Endocarditis: A surplus of bacteria in your mouth can get into your bloodstream and cause the inner lining of your heart to become infected. In fact, bacteria infiltration via the mouth is thought to be the most common cause of endocarditis.
Pneumonia: Having too much bacteria and/or an active infection in your mouth means at some point, you’ll probably breathe some of it in. This can cause pneumonia, which has a chance of permanently damaging your lungs.

Okay, so, are we just supposed to become hypochondriacs about it? No – it’s not that serious. Keeping a healthy lifestyle, as well as getting regular cleanings at the dentist and yearly physicals from your doctor are all going to lower your risk factor of developing any of the four major illnesses that hurt your oral health.

Plaque in Heart Disease in Linked to Periodontitis

Heart disease kills more people than literally everything else each year, and that’s worldwide – not just in the US. But, here in the US, it’s not great. Heart disease is estimated to be responsible for 25% of deaths each year – over 645,000 people died of heart disease and 30 million were diagnosed it in 2018 alone. Besides damaging the organ that keeps us alive, heart disease has been linked to progressive gum disease. It’s not clear which contributes to which – that is, does periodontitis act on the cardiovascular system and vice versa. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammation of the gums caused by plaque and bacteria buildup at the gum line. The gums bleed, get sores, pull away from the teeth – exposing roots, lead to tooth decay, and eventually loose teeth that need extracted.

It’s extremely clear that lifestyle is a huge factor in developing heart disease. Obesity, poor diet, too much alcohol, and not enough exercise are all risk factors, as are obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. You’ll notice that each group of risk factors has to do with the other. Simply: if you keep a healthy weight, diet and lifestyle, you’re at a very low risk for developing that plaque buildup all over your arteries.

Sugar Irregularities from Diabetes can Cause Gum Disease

Around 1 out of every 10 Americans have diabetes, and nearly 95% of them have Diabetes Type II. This type of diabetes, unlike Type 1, which is genetic, is largely brought on by a poor lifestyle. Obesity, high cholesterol, inactivity, poor diet, chronic dehydration, and high blood pressure can cause your insulin resistance, and then, Diabetes Type II. Once again – another illness linked to lifestyle. People who are diabetic are at a much higher risk of developing aggressive gum disease. Doctors think this is due to constantly-changing sugar levels in the blood. Diabetes can also cause dry mouth, and a fungal (yeast) infection of the mouth called thrush. Diabetes also slows healing time, making it difficult to treat the periodontal disease and putting you at a higher risk of gum and jaw deterioration.

HIV/AIDS can Cause Fungal Oral Infections

Because the HIV/AIDS virus attacks the body’s immune system, it leaves people suffering from it more susceptible to illness and infection. And, guess what? That includes dental infections. There are a host of oral health issues aside from toothaches and tooth loss that can afflict a person who’s already afflicted with the HIV/AIDS virus:

Thrush
Ulcerative periodontitis (late-stage gum disease)
Mouth ulcers
Canker sores
Karposi’s Sarcoma (and oral cancer)

HIV/AIDS is largely a sexually transmitted disease, but it can also be transferred via blood through dirty syringes, or even in vitro from the mother to the fetus. Thankfully, there are now centers everywhere where you can get rapid tests for HIV so you can detect it early. If found early, HIV is very manageable with the right medication regimen. There’s also a new drug called PrEP that nearly eliminates the risk of getting HIV via sexual encounters, and lessens the risk of getting it via dirty needles by nearly ¾. If you’re at risk for contracting the HIV/AIDS virus, PrEP is an effective way to protect yourself long-term.

Osteoporosis Weakens Your Bones – Including Your Teeth

Osteoporosis is a progressive condition that slowly lessens bone density to the point of leaving you extremely susceptible to fractures everywhere all the time. This includes your jaw bone, which slowly disintegrates. This leads to loose teeth, teeth that just fall out, and it’s also linked to periodontitis. Studies suggest that women over 50 who have osteoporosis are over 3 times more likely to experience tooth loss. And losing teeth only contributes to the deterioration of your jaw. Regular dental x-rays are a great early indicator that can help you get immediate intervention before it progresses too much.

How do you avoid osteoporosis? Keeping a healthy lifestyle – diet, exercise, multivitamins, proper dental care, etc. Sound familiar?

Taking Care of Your Self is Taking Care of Your Health

It’s pretty clear that the biggest factor in the body-mouth feedback loop is lifestyle choices. Self-care is self-care; yeah, sometimes you do need to eat that bowl of ice cream after a bad breakup – that’s self-care. But is self-care also getting to the gym when you don’t want to and choosing a salad over a Big Mac? Yes. Keep your body healthy, your at-home dental hygiene thorough, and keep those appointments with your dentist for regular cleanings and x-rays. See? Pretty easy.