Hello again, I receive lots of questions from my patients regarding gum disease – what it is? How does it develops? Is it something serious and we should be concern about it?
So If you’ve ever wondered what the particulars of gum disease are and how exactly it correlates with other diseases (cardiac diseases, diabetes, cancer etc) as well as your general health condition – we are here to help you out. In this article, I break down what exactly gum disease is and the connection between gum disease and general health condition:
What exactly is Gum Disease?
Gum Disease is an infection in your tissues that can be caused usually by poor flossing and brushing hobbies and basically involves plaque, a bacteria, settling on your teeth and hardening. In the initial stages, gum disease can lead to painful chewing problems and bleeding, sore gums if left untreated.
What Causes Gum Disease?
It’s an easy to understand system. Our teeth have a sticky, colourless bacteria on them called plaque that is caused by the mucus, bacteria and other particles that are resting inside our mouths at all times. Gum Disease is caused when you’re not consistently removing this plaque from your teeth through proper brushing – hence allowing the plaque to harden. In this unfortunate case, only a dental hygienist or a dentist will be able to remove the tartar from your teeth.
How Does Gum Disease Relate With Other Diseases
It’s not just a baseless assertion: Gum Disease can lead several other kinds of diseases and this has been proven to many studies and researches over the years.
● What About Diabetes?
Diabetic has a two way connection with gum disease, whereby patients of Diabetes are likely to develop gum disease whereas patients of gum disease are equally likely to get diabetes. Since people with diabetes are more prone to contract infection of all kinds, they’re highly probably to develop periodontal or gum disease. Moreover, gum disease can lead a host of new complications for patients of Diabetes and make it difficult for them to control their blood sugar.
● What About Heart Disease?
Many researches have proven that gum disease is correlated with heart disease. Moreover, gum disease can also exacerbate existing cardiac disease and make it even tougher for patients of heart disease to get through. Although a cause and effect relationship has yet to be proven, many researchers believe that the inflammation caused by gum disease is responsible for the relationships between the two deadly illnesses, whereby studies continue to demonstrably show that gum disease can significantly increase one’s chances of getting of cardiac disease. Some studies have also indicated a clear connection between gum disease and stroke.
● What About Cancer?
Researches have shown that people who suffer from periodontal disease are significantly more likely to develop different kinds of cancers: 30% more likely to develop blood cancer, and 49% more likely to develop kidney cancer, amongst other worrying possibilities.
● What About Osteoporosis?
Many studies have indicated a link between bone loss in the jaw and osteoporosis. In fact, osteoporosis can lead to tooth loss because is decreases the density of the bone that supports the teeth.
To summarise it : Is the gum disease serious – Yes it can be very much if you have it and trying to ignore it. Can it be treated- Yes , the earlier the better result.
If you have any questions, please contact me I will be happy to answer them, meantime take care of your gums.