Overview
Healthy teeth, healthy mouth, healthy you. Having healthy teeth and a healthy mouth is very important. Unhealthy teeth and gums can lead to painful infections, bad breath, tooth loss and difficulty eating and speaking. These can cause nutritional and digestive problems.
Having a healthy mouth and teeth is not just about having a nice smile and looking good. It is also about staying healthy. Research shows that a healthy mouth may actually prevent certain diseases from occurring. When your mouth is healthy, it is very likely that your overall health is good too. But if you have poor oral health, you may have other health problems.
According to the Academy of General Dentistry, women with gum disease also have higher rates of pre-term, low birth-weight babies. Other research shows that more than 90 percent of all systemic diseases (involving many organs or the whole body) have oral symptoms. For example swollen gums, mouth ulcers, dry mouth or excessive gum problems may be an indication of diseases such as diabetes, leukemia, cancer, heart disease, and kidney disease.
Regular dentist visits can help keep your smile pretty and may tell your dentist a lot about your overall health.