Studies show there is a biological link between your mouth and the rest of your body, known as the oral-systemic health connection. This means that your oral health impacts your general body health, and the existence of conditions such as gum disease and tooth decay has been linked to systemic diseases, such as diabetes, preterm birth, HIV, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. Suffering from an oral condition increases the risk of systemic diseases or can exacerbate an already existing condition, or vice versa.
The Reasoning Behind The Oral-Systemic Health Connection
Even though the mouth is part of the body, medical health historically separates dental health from medical health. The separation is unusual because the mouth is not just an independent entity. It is the gateway to the body, and the two are connected. Oral health issues can affect your overall body health. Additionally, systemic conditions, such as diabetes or HIV, can worsen oral conditions. So, if you want to enjoy good general body health, you must start by maintaining excellent oral health.
The mouth contains oral microbiomes, and maintaining a balanced microbial ecosystem influences the health of your body’s main organ systems. So, when the balanced oral microbiome is disrupted, you develop oral dysbiosis, which increases the risk of oral conditions and the progression of systemic health conditions.
While there is a connection between oral and systemic health, other factors, such as smoking, poor diet, high blood pressure, and obesity, can disrupt the oral microbiome. Therefore, when any of these factors exist, you are at a higher risk of developing an oral disease or systemic illness. For instance, some researchers have found that bacteria that cause gum disease are present in diseased tissues, suggesting that these bacteria can spread to other organs, causing illness beyond the oral cavity. Other studies have shown that gum inflammation, which characterizes the early stages of gum disease stemming from the body’s immune response to excessive harmful or pathogenic bacteria in the gums, can exacerbate inflammation in other regions of the body, triggering other illnesses. Conversely, inflammation stemming from conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease can worsen an existing periodontal disease.
There is a more direct connection between the mouth and systemic health. The mouth is the gateway to the respiratory and digestive systems. So, when you breathe or swallow an illness-causing microbe, you increase the risk of developing an infection, cancer, or ulcer.
Therefore, your dental expert or medical care provider must familiarize themselves with the oral symptoms of systemic conditions to enable early diagnosis and treatment. Understanding the interconnection between the body system and the oral system can lead to improved management of systemic and oral conditions.
Systemic Illnesses Linked to Oral Health
Many oral health illnesses do not stay in the mouth alone. They colonize other regions of the body, causing severe infections that spread to the bloodstream and airways, causing life-threatening systemic issues. On the flip side, systemic conditions can worsen oral conditions. Here is the interconnection between some of the systemic conditions and oral health:
Diabetes and Periodontal Disease
Diabetes has a bidirectional connection with oral health. A study by Robert Genco of the State University of New York, Buffalo, funded by the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR), showed that patients with diabetes were 15 times more likely to experience tooth loss than individuals without diabetes. According to the research, gum disease was among the six main diseases stemming from uncontrolled diabetes.
Periodontal disease in patients with uncontrolled diabetes develops due to high blood sugar, which creates a conducive environment for the breeding and growth of the harmful bacteria that cause gum disease. While studies on whether treating either periodontitis or diabetes would help control the other have been inconclusive, researchers have established that treating one condition can be beneficial in managing the other. Regulating your blood sugar can help manage gum disease by improving the body’s immune system, which is necessary for fighting infections. Besides, when you treat periodontal disease, it becomes easy to regulate your blood sugar if you are a diabetic. Although research is still ongoing to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between periodontitis and diabetes, managing either can help with the other.
Pregnancy Complications and Oral Health
In the 1990s, NIDR funded another study at the University of North Carolina to establish the association between gum disease and the risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy (pre-eclampsia), low birth weight, and other pregnancy complications. Scientists established that periodontal disease-causing bacteria can colonize the placenta, leading to preterm births or low birth weights. While blood tests can detect the bacteria, they have yet to determine how it reaches the placenta.
Additionally, periodontal disease bacteria can trigger systemic inflammation in the pregnant mother, adversely affecting the placenta. Pregnant women with periodontitis are at an elevated risk of giving birth to low-weight babies compared to mothers without periodontal disease.
Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke
After finding a connection between oral health and pregnancy complications, Dr. Offenbacher and James Beck, who had been funded by NIDR to conduct the study, began another journey to establish the link between oral health and cardiovascular disease and stroke. Before embarking on the new study, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHNES) had shown a connection between poor oral health and cardiovascular disease. The scientists decided to uncover more evidence on the interconnection.
Their study established that there was an interconnection between gum disease in humans and specific precursors to heart problems and stroke. They found that patients with periodontitis were at a high risk of developing plaque in the arteries or thickened arteries, a sign of an upcoming heart disease or stroke. Other scientists found periodontal disease-causing bacteria in the heart valves during surgery, proving that the pathogenic bacteria can spread and colonize other body parts.
Further studies were conducted on the same patients used in the NHNES study and discovered that patients diagnosed with periodontitis earlier in the initial study ran the risk of developing a heart attack in the future. This discovery led to the conclusion that periodontal disease is a risk factor for heart disease. With evidence that gum inflammation or disease increased the risk of heart disease, researchers identified inflammation as a factor in the increased risk of heart disease.
Today, the prevailing theory about the connection between gum disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease is that periodontitis-causing bacteria, when left unchecked, enter the bloodstream through tiny injuries that develop in the mouth during chewing or oral procedures. When bacterial pathogens enter the bloodstream, the body’s immune system responds by triggering inflammation to alert the rest of the immune system to the bacterial attack. If the immune cells react on time, they kill the pathogenic bacteria. However, if the cells' response is slow or the bacteria are constantly entering the bloodstream, the immune cells are unable to capture and kill them, and instead seed plaque on arterial walls. The cells trapped as plaque in the vessels can still capture the harmful bacteria, increasing the buildup. If the plaque accumulation in the arteries continues, it causes a blockage that leads to a stroke and a heart attack. Sometimes the plaque can break off and travel as small fragments through the arteries, which can cause blood clots.
Periodontitis is not the only risk factor for stroke and cardiovascular disease. Tooth decay has a 40% risk of stroke and a 13% death, based on a study published by Dr. James Beck on stroke. However, the study did not associate tooth decay with heart attacks. The reason for the limited association between decay and systemic conditions is that tooth decay does not cause as severe an inflammation as periodontitis.
Additionally, another 2023 study on stroke was conducted on 283 patients with periodontitis who had suffered a stroke and showed that traditional oral treatments, such as professional cleaning and plaque removal, or intrusive treatments, like local antibiotics, showed improvement in stroke risk factors. This means that treating periodontal disease in patients reduces the risk of systemic diseases, such as stroke and cardiovascular disease.
Dementia and Periodontal Disease
The bacteria that cause periodontitis can also colonize the brain, causing dementia. Studies show that patients with all or many missing teeth have poor periodontal health or high antibody levels against gum disease and are more likely to suffer cognitive decline. Studies on the brains of dead people with cognitive disease, such as Alzheimer's, have found excessive plaque consisting of periodontal disease-causing bacteria and gut bacteria in the brain, proving the bacteria can travel to the brain.
Cancer and Oral Health
Periodontal bacteria colonization of other parts of the body also increases the risk of cancer. Studies have found the pathogenic bacteria in colon cancers, rectal cancers, and breast cancer tumors. However, the presence of these bacteria in these parts of the body has been linked to the spread of cancer, as they are a different strain from the one found in the mouths of patients without cancer.
Maintaining Excellent Oral Health to Prevent Systemic Consequences
Poor oral health triggers local consequences in the oral cavity. Unfortunately, these consequences do not remain in the mouth alone. They spread to other areas of the body, causing systemic consequences. Poor dental health refers to dental conditions or factors that increase the risk of oral diseases. Most of these problems, such as tooth decay and gum disease, can be prevented with good oral hygiene and regular visits to the dentist. Therefore, maintaining proper oral hygiene and professional care can help prevent oral conditions linked to systemic conditions, some of which are life-threatening. Achieving good oral health can be key to good systemic health.
Now that you know the need for good oral health for overall health, it is time to understand how you will achieve good oral health. The guidelines you should follow for excellent dental health are:
- Homecare Tips
Most dental issues stem from plaque buildup in the mouth. So, a crucial step in maintaining good dental health is preventing plaque buildup. Plaque is a layer that forms on your teeth and gums every day due to the accumulation of food debris. The layer is not hard, meaning you can easily remove it from home without the need for professional cleaning. Because plaque forms every time you eat or drink something, you can prevent it by brushing your teeth at least twice a day, especially after meals. Flossing the teeth at least once a day will remove plaque from the spaces between the teeth, where the toothbrush cannot reach.
Consult your dental provider for instructions on removing plaque at home to maintain consistency. If you learn how to do it from home, you will keep your teeth and gums free of plaque, promoting good oral health.
- Observe a Balanced Diet
Oral issues such as cavities develop due to dietary choices. Eating foods rich in sugar or acids can erode the enamel, causing cavities, which, when left to advance, can cause or increase the risk of systemic illnesses. Therefore, limit your intake of these substances or avoid them completely. If you must eat them, your dental expert will provide instructions on what to do afterward to prevent prolonged contact between sugary or acidic substances and your teeth.
- Visit the Dentist Regularly
Some dental conditions do not show any symptoms and are only discovered after they have progressed. How do you identify an oral condition early? Through regular visits to the dental clinic for examination and professional cleaning. When plaque hardens, it requires specialized tools to remove, hence the need for regular checkups. Additionally, during examination, the dentist can identify oral conditions early and arrest them before they progress.
Your overall wellness is also crucial in maintaining excellent oral health. Stress, anxiety, diabetes, acid reflux, and dry mouth can contribute to poor health. Managing these issues and your overall health will help you achieve good dental health.
Find a Reputable Advanced Dentistry Service Near Me
There is a clear connection between your oral health and your systemic health. Systemic conditions, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dementia, and pregnancy complications, have been linked to oral illnesses, such as gum disease and cavities, in many studies. So, if you prioritize your oral health, you will improve your general well-being.
At Northridge Advanced Dentistry, we provide thorough checkups during routine dental visits and provide home care tips for good oral health. Call us at 818-701-3010 to schedule an appointment.
