Some habits are widely known to threaten the heart, like smoking, but neglecting your oral health isn’t immediately connected to heart health. The truth is that research indicates a close link between a person’s oral health and heart health. The bacteria that accumulates in your mouth to create gum disease can also pose a threat to your heart. This means that preventing gum disease does more than just keep your smile pearly white!
Connecting the Mouth and Heart
The gums inside of the mouth are full of blood vessels, and the mouth itself is filled with bacteria. When unhealthy gums become inflamed, the bacteria in the mouth can seep into the bloodstream and travel anywhere within the body. This creates dangerous inflammation that threatens the heart.
Inflammation causes hardened arteries, which makes it difficult for blood to flow to the heart. Atherosclerosis dramatically increases a person’s risk for heart attack and stroke. When the inflammation of atherosclerosis combines with the inflammation and roaming bacteria caused by gum disease, the results could prove fatal. Doctors can actually link certain types of bacteria with periodontal disease, including Streptococcus sanguis. It is far more common for people with gum disease to have Streptococcus sanguis bacteria in their hearts. This highlights the connection between the heart and the mouth.
Treating Gum Disease and Protecting the Heart
If you have gum disease, you shouldn’t admit defeat and wait for your heart attack to hit. Instead, you should head to your dentist to seek treatment for gum disease. Today’s technologies like root planing, scaling, and LANAP make it possible to stop or even reverse the progression of gum disease.
Root scaling and planing remove plaque and tartar from the teeth and gums. During root scaling, your dentist will numb the gums and tooth roots and then utilize special ultrasonic tools to remove the hard deposits of plaque and tartar from the teeth above and below the gum line. Root planing, meanwhile, smoothes the rough spots on the roots of the teeth that often lead to gum disease.
LANAP is FDA-cleared to offer a less painful and more effective gum disease treatment compared to conventional surgery. It achieves laser assisted regeneration (LAR) by sterilizing infected gum tissues, destroying bacteria, and helping healthy gums reattach to the teeth in a short period of time. LANAP doesn’t simply stop gum disease from spreading; it actually enhances and restores the health of your gums.
Don’t let poor oral health ruin your overall wellness. Call Dental Implant Solutionz at (727) 202-4926 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Tadros in Largo, Florida.
