Oral health is not only vital to having a nice smile.  In order to have a good sense of health and well-being, your oral health must be paid attention to as it is directly connected to your overall bodily health.

Having gum disease or cavities can lead to other serious medical conditions such as infections, diabetes, and respiratory diseases.  There are also signs that poor oral health can lead to heart disease and even complications with pregnancy.

Here’s some more information on how oral health affects your overall health and well being.

Maintaining Good Oral Health: The Physical and Emotional Aspects

One part of maintaining your oral health is keeping your teeth healthy. This will prevent cavities and prevent gum disease. However, another element to oral health, is connected to how a person can feel about themselves.

Having poor oral health can affect your appearance and can contribute to low self-esteem. This not only affects adults – but it can affect children too. Poor oral health can affect a child’s sleep patterns, their development and their behaviour – and will eventually influence how they see themselves.

Another concern with poor oral health is how it affects chewing and digestion of food. Nutrition is directly linked to oral health. If your gums get irritated easily, or your teeth are abnormally sensitive, you will not chew your food properly and this will wear at your digestive system – a key reason for indigestion and other digestive problems.

Habits to Avoid: Smoking

In terms of common activities or habits to avoid, smoking would be at the top of the list.  Smoking causes bad breath, stained teeth and can cause issues with the throat. It also creates a significant risk factor for oral diseases – especially oral cancer.

If you’ve been thinking about quitting, note that you’ll be doing both your oral and overall health a huge favour. Tobacco smoke is very harmful to every type of tissue in your mouth – gums, tongue, palate – everything.

Forgetting to Brush in the Morning

Did you brush your teeth the night before but skip out on your morning routine? Many people think that if you skip your morning brushing it isn’t a big deal since you brushed the night before. However, this is not a good thing to practice as you can imagine.

Plaque has a chance to form at night and then grow. This is why our breath smells in the morning. While our saliva does act as a disinfectant, brushing is important to really conquer the bad bacteria and make sure it is out of our mouths and not swallowed into our bodies!

Oral Health Improvement Begins Today

By maintaining good practices every day, you’ll see a real change the next time you visit us at the dentist. With the right diet, proper care, and healthy habits, you can keep yourself and your teeth in great shape for years to come.

For more information on oral health care or to book an appointment with a dentist, contact Lancaster Dental today.