This article explores the close relationship between oral health and hygiene and the health of the rest of your body.

You may be hard-pressed to think that skipping the occasional brush and floss could put your body’s vital organs and functions in jeopardy. Sure, you run the risk of allowing bacteria to take a foothold in your mouth, but heart disease? Osteoporosis? Diabetes? Could these terrible afflictions really share a link with the health of your teeth and gums? Yes, says the dentist in Colorado Springs. There is much scientific literature supporting the relationship between periodontal (gum) disease and the health of your heart, your respiratory system and crippling ailments, such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis and even cancer. It’s time everyone became fully aware of the possible consequences of poor oral health and hygiene, says the dentist in Colorado Springs. That way, you might think twice about skipping your dental appointments!

The Dentist in Colorado Springs: About Gum Disease

Periodontal (gum) disease is characterized by an acute and chronic bacterial infection of the soft tissues surrounding the teeth, explains the dentist in Colorado Springs. If left untreated, these nasty pathogens can migrate deep down into the gingival sulci, causing deep pockets of bacterial waste and toxin to accumulate between the tooth roots and the gum wall. At this juncture, urgent intervention is required by the dentist in Colorado Springs in order to eliminate the bacterial infection, otherwise patients risk tooth loss and the loss of bone tissue in the jaw.

The Dentist in Colorado Springs: Mouth – Body Connections

Fair enough… but, how can an oral bacterial infection put your heart at risk? Well, explains the dentist Colorado Springs, the mouth is the portal through which our body receives the nutrition it needs in order to remain strong and healthy. People with gum disease have a mouth teeming with billions and billions of bacteria, an obscene number of which gets ingested every time you eat or drink something, or even just swallow. Now, not all of these bacteria are harmful, says the dentist in Colorado Springs, but many of them are! And people with periodontal disease are constantly ingesting bacteria, rendering their bodies vulnerable to a chronic onslaught of these harmful pathogens.

Bacteria don’t only have one pathway into the body, explains the dentist Colorado Springs; they quite easily work their way into the blood stream from the mouth. And this provides them with a direct route to the heart and the body’s other vital organs and systems. Furthermore, people with periodontal disease are at a greater risk of respiratory illnesses because they’re constantly breathing in bacteria! Untreated gum disease also brings with it a greater risk of diabetes, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis, which, being inflammatory diseases, share a link with chronic infection of the gums.

Advice from the Dentist in Colorado Springs: What You Can Do

Avoiding the terrible consequences of gum disease begins first and foremost with good oral health and hygiene, which means maintaining a rigorous home oral hygiene routine and going to see your dentist in Colorado Springs on a regular basis. It is also never too late to seek treatment, so if you have long lived with an oral bacterial infection – you may not even be aware of it, which emphasizes the importance of regular professional healthcare – you should call the dentist in Colorado Springs immediately to schedule an appointment. Caught early on, the infection can safely and painlessly be eliminated, thus reducing your risk of all the terrible bodily afflictions which comes hand-in-hand with an unhealthy mouth.

The best course of action is to book an appointment with the Dentist in Pueblo Colorado. A detailed medical examination should reveal the cause of your pain and discomfort. The treatment you require is determined by the diagnosis. A cavity could be the source of your pain, in which case treatment could involve the drilling out of the infected tissue and the placement of a filling or restoration. If, however, infection has attacked the pulp chamber of the tooth, the Dentist in Pueblo Colorado may recommend root canal therapy to save the tooth. If the damage is irreparable, the tooth may face the need for extraction and replacement with dental implants Pueblo.