Looking after your teeth is just as important as looking after your body. You might not realise it but your teeth and mouth can act as an indicator for your overall health. If your body is not well, your teeth will demonstrate this. Just as if your teeth are in poor condition your bodily health will be affected. This is because rather than being a serious of unconnected body parts, the human body is an extremely complex, interconnected web of nerve, tissues and blood vessels. This means that any infection or disease in the mouth could potentially affect the whole body. Nowhere is this more true than with heart disease. Recent studies have conclusively proved the link between gum disease and heart disease.
This occurs because infection in the mouth can easily spread to the bloodstream. When this happens it causes a chain reaction that can cause a narrowing of the arteries around the heart. In some extreme cases this has even caused fatal heart attacks.
While this may be an extreme example, your oral health can also affect your life in many other ways. Teeth are very important for attractiveness. Bad teeth can often make an otherwise attractive person look a lot worse. Discolouration or missing teeth are not very pretty things to look at and can make you look unhealthy. And as for bad breath, I think we all know how much of a put off that can be. Yet these are all oral concerns that could have easily been prevented with improved oral hygiene. This doesn’t even need that much effort. Just a few extra minutes spent each day brushing and flossing correctly, accompanied with a six-monthly check up at a Leeds dentist and you could make a huge improvement to the appearance and cleanliness of your teeth.
Tags: bad breath, heart disease, missing teeth, oral health
