White, sparkling teeth are not the only sign of a healthy mouth. Your gums are a barrier that helps prevent inflammation that may damage your body. In fact, gum disease has been linked to health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and premature births or low-birth weight babies . The good news?
What 5 Problems can gum disease cause?
Research has linked oral health problems such as periodontal or gum disease to many health conditions, including diabetes, heart and kidney disease, Alzheimer’s, asthma, osteoporosis, and cancer . Dr.
What health problems can gum disease cause?
It’s typically caused by poor brushing and flossing habits that allow plaque—a sticky film of bacteria—to build up on the teeth and harden. In advanced stages, periodontal disease can lead to sore, bleeding gums; painful chewing problems; and even tooth loss .
Does gum disease cause fatigue?
If we suffer from gum disease or oral infections, the blood vessels are used to transport the pathogens to different parts of the body. This means that the longer the disease is present, the more likely it is for it to start affecting other organs, causing you to feel tired and worn out .
Is gum disease an autoimmune disease?
Periodontitis is considered an autoimmune disease because your body’s immune system is attacking your own tissues due to the ongoing chronic inflammation.
What is Stage 4 periodontal disease?
Stage 4: Progressive Periodontitis
This stage involves teeth looseness, shifting teeth, red, swollen and painful gums, often forming an abscess. The end result — eating and even smiling is hard and painful, and you may lose most of your teeth.
Can gum disease spread to other teeth?
Many people have inflamed gums every now and then. A gum inflammation (gingivitis) usually doesn’t cause any major problems at first. But it may spread to other parts of the periodontium (the soft tissue and bone responsible for keeping our teeth firmly anchored) and cause damage there.
How can early detection of gum disease affect your long term health?
#1: It Decreases The Likelihood of Other Health Conditions
The inflammation and bacteria associated with periodontal disease have the potential to impact other parts of the body. Detecting gum disease and treating it early will significantly decrease your chances of acquiring a harmful secondary health condition.
What happens when gum disease is not treated?
The Risks of Untreated Gum Disease
Avoiding treatment for periodontitis can cause gaps in your teeth, receding gums, sensitive teeth, mouth sores, chronic bad breath, and tooth loss . Gum disease has also been connected to an array of serious health issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and more.
Is gum disease lifelong?
In most cases, Periodontal Disease is a lifelong disease that never goes away.
What happens if you don’t treat gum disease?
Long-term risk of untreated periodontal disease
Untreated gingivitis will progress into periodontitis, which is a more severe stage of gum disease . The infection and pockets deepen while eating away at your jaw until your teeth become loose and fall out.
How does a gum infection make you feel?
Symptoms of a dental abscess
Symptoms of an abscess in your tooth or gum may include: an intense throbbing pain in the affected tooth or gum that may come on suddenly and gets gradually worse . pain that spreads to your ear, jaw and neck on the same side as the affected tooth or gum.
Can a rotten tooth make you ill?
Although not an immediate consequence, dentists strongly advise that letting rotten teeth go unattended can lead to blood poisoning . This happens because the rot from the teeth keeps getting deposited into the mouth, and in most cases, it’s swallowed along with saliva.
Can a dental abscess make you feel unwell?
A dental abscess is a collection of pus in the teeth or gums. This happens when you have an infection in your mouth. Dental abscesses can be very painful and make you feel ill . If you do not treat a dental abscess, it will get worse, and the bone around the abscess could be destroyed.
Can gum disease cause joint pain?
from the Johns Hopkins University Division of Rheumatology provides new evidence that a bacterium known to cause chronic inflammatory gum infections also triggers the inflammatory autoimmune response also found in the joints of patients with the chronic, joint-destroying autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Can low immune system cause gum disease?
An unhealthy balance of bacteria in the mouth has long been known to trigger inflammation in periodontal disease. Studies have suggested that an abnormal immune response also plays a role . Immune cells called T helper 17 (Th17) cells live in the mouth and have been shown to have both helpful and harmful effects.
What diseases cause dental problems?
- Diabetes. Those with diabetes tend to be a higher risk for developing oral infections, gum disease, and tooth decay. ...
- Oral Cancer. ...
- Anemia. ...
- Eating Disorders. ...
- Finding a Quality Dentist to Help Prevent Tooth Decay.
Can a dentist fix periodontal disease?
Your dentist can help catch early signs of gingivitis at your regular cleanings and checkups. In most cases, you can cure gum in this stage. However, as the disease progresses and reaches periodontitis, it can’t be cured, only treated.
What does Stage 1 gum disease look like?
Stage 1: Gingivitis
Gingivitis results from a build-up of plaque around the teeth, causing swelling and redness in the gums, bleeding when brushing or flossing, and occasional bad breath . At this point, the infection is mild and has not attacked the tooth root or bones, which means it is reversible.
What does the dentist do for periodontal disease?
If you have advanced periodontitis, treatment may require dental surgery, such as: Flap surgery (pocket reduction surgery) . Your periodontist makes tiny incisions in your gum so that a section of gum tissue can be lifted back, exposing the roots for more effective scaling and root planing.
How quickly does gum disease progress?
During the early gingivitis stages, gum inflammation can occur in as little as five days. Within two to three weeks , the signs of generalized gingivitis become more noticeable. If you still leave this untreated, it would progress to slight periodontal disease.
Can gum disease affect the brain?
gingivalis can kill brain neurons and boost production of beta-amyloid plaques, clumps of tangled proteins that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s , an international team reported in 2019 in Science Advances.
What are the symptoms of a tooth infection spreading?
- Feeling Unwell. The first thing you may notice is that you start to feel unwell. ...
- Fever. Fever is your body’s natural defense against infection. ...
- Swelling. ...
- Increased Heart and Breathing Rate. ...
- Dehydration and Stomach Pain.
Can gum disease cause inflammation in the body?
Gum disease not only causes damage to the gums and bone around the teeth, but can also play a role in the inflammation present in other parts of the body . Current research suggests that the bacteria that causes gum disease can also cause inflammation of the heart and other organs.
