Your Mouth the Gateway to Health

 Oral health is an extremely important aspect of our individual overall health. It has an impact on literally every bodily system and organ in the body. It boggles the mind how something of such importance is over looked by such huge numbers of our population. Why this occurs can be attributed to many factors. The foremost of these factors is that if doesn’t hurt or cause me any discomfort-just leave it alone. Of course another factor is the economic factor that involves any type of dental work.

 On May 25, 2000, the then Surgeon General, David Satcher M.D., PhD., issued a vital health warning on the importance of oral health pertaining to an individuals general health. He spoke of the lack of awareness to oral health and how they affect all health issues. This warning by the Surgeon General placed a much-needed spotlight on this serious problem.

 The single greatest cause attributed to problematic oral health is poor hygiene, followed by the lack of visits to the dentist. Ideally speaking, one shouldn’t wait for problems to occur before visiting a dentist. Here the key words are maintenance and prevention. A visit to your dentist every six months can likely prevent future pain and costly incidents from occurring. Preventive care can help save your teeth.

 It is up to the individual to maintain good oral health.  You must remember that good oral health means more than sound teeth and healthy gums. It means that it will have a profound impact on your over-all health. Not only will it affect your eating (chewing food), and swallowing when food is not masticated properly.

 Oral health problems cause a build-up of bacterial plaque in the mouth. The bacterium can find it’s way throughout the body. This can lead to coronary artery disease, cardiovascular problems, stroke and diabetes. In the Surgeon Generals report mentioned above, he also stated that pregnant women with gum disease could have premature births with low weight babies.

 There are many risk factors that are causative factors in good oral health.

•      Smoking.

•       Chewing tobacco.

•       Poor diet. Diet high in carbohydrates and sugars.

•       Neglect in not brushing teeth twice daily.

•       Not flossing daily.

•       Not visiting the dentist at least every 6 months, or as needed.

•    Not keeping toothbrush approximately 6 feet away from the toilet can expose it to airborne bacteria when toilet is flushed.