What Your Smile Says About Your Health
March 20 is celebrated every year as World Oral Health Day. The day is meant to highlight how important oral health is for a healthy body.
The team at Synergy Dental Center in Gillette, WY, know the connection between teeth and health. We also know that teeth are sometimes taken for granted even though we need them to chew and digest our food properly.
You probably visit your medical doctor at least once a year for a check-up. It’s possible you go even more often to manage your weight, regulate your blood pressure, or just to keep an eye out for any little health issues that can creep up. Yet you may not be as vigilant when it comes to your oral health.
An Ounce of Prevention…
The problem with not staying on top of the health of your teeth is that things can start affecting them before you notice it. Many people wait until they’re in pain to see the dentist. By then, there’s already an issue.
Why do that when regular checkups are the best way to keep your mouth healthy and to prevent pain in the first place? Getting your teeth cleaned regularly lowers the risk of plaque and tartar building up, which causes gum disease and cavities.
If bacteria get into your gums, you can develop periodontal disease, a chronic condition that can destroy your gums, the tissues holding your teeth, and even your bones.
The Connection Between Chronic Disease and Oral Health
Your mouth is a window into your general health. By looking at your mouth, a dentist could see a sign of another problem and can alert you to it before your doctor can.
On the other hand, you may already know you have a chronic disease. Regular dental care can help with some of the side effects caused by the disease.
Diabetes is one example. People with diabetes sometimes have less saliva in their mouths. Since saliva is important for protecting your teeth, when there’s less of it, you risk getting more cavities. Diabetes can also increase the chances of your gums getting infected and inflamed.
Diabetes is just one example of how you can’t separate what’s going on in your mouth from the rest of your body.
Your Smile Is Your Calling Card
Even though the health of your mouth is important, you should never underestimate the effect a great smile has on your appearance.
Admit it: A smile is one of the first things you notice when you meet a new person. A smile is critical to how you feel about yourself and to how others see you.
Great hair and great clothes won’t do much good if your smile reveals discolored or damaged teeth. A lot of people who are unhappy with the way their teeth look tend to smile less often or put their hands in front of their faces when they smile. That’s not a great look if you want to make a good impression.
Bad breath is also responsible for a bad first (or second or third, for that matter) impression. Poor oral hygiene, and underlying mouth issues, can cause bad breath (halitosis). Many people suffer from halitosis. You may even be one of them, although few people know when they have it.
An article published by the American Dental Association showed through several investigations that people tend to be terrible at gauging the smell of their own breath.
Habitually neglecting your teeth can cause you to lose them. And when you lose teeth, you lose bone. Losing bone can actually distort the shape of your face. Losing teeth causes you to lose the support for your cheeks, which makes you look older than you are.
Make an Appointment
We’re not using World Oral Health Day just to scare you. But we can’t emphasize enough how dependent the health of your mouth is on the health of your body, and vice versa. If you are vigilant about your teeth and you see your dentist regularly, you can have a smile that you’re proud of for years to come.
Come in and let us look at your teeth and mouth. Maybe they’ll check out just fine and you’ll leave here with a cleaner or fresher mouth. Or we might just stop something worse from happening. Before you make an appointment, we suggest you do something else first. Talk to Dr. Porter. Set up a consultation by calling 307-622-1311 or contacting us online.