Diabetes And Oral Health

25 March 2018
 Categories: Dentist, Blog

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If you have diabetes, you're probably already taking steps to manage its effects on your body. However, it might surprise you to learn that diabetes could end up hurting your teeth and gums if it isn't well managed. Read on to discover the link between diabetes and your oral health and what you can do to reduce your risk of developing problems.

Diabetes Risk

Diabetes increases your risk of developing gum disease and even losing teeth. Having high blood sugar increases inflammation in the body, which includes your gums and the roots of your teeth. Over time, this can cause severe gum disease to develop which drastically increases your risk of losing one or more teeth.

Unfortunately, there are other problems with your oral health you can experience due to diabetes. For example, thrush is more likely for those who have diabetes. This is because there's more sugar in the saliva, which the bacteria in your mouth thrives upon. If left untreated, this bacteria can grow out of control and create thrush.

Defending

One of the best things you can do for your oral health is to stay on top of your diabetes. By maintaining a healthy blood sugar level, you reduce the amount of sugar in your mouth and the amount of inflammation throughout the body.

For many people, reversing the symptoms of diabetes is a possibility. Talk to your doctor to find out if this is possible for you by losing weight, exercising, or eating better. By reversing the disease, you can eliminate the risk of having these problems with your mouth due to diabetes.

Treatment

If you already have these problems, you'll be glad to know that dentists offer periodontal disease treatment. Your dentist will be able to treat and reverse gum disease, and if decay or root problems are found on your teeth, they can treat that too. While you'll still be at a higher risk of these problems coming back due to the diabetes, your dentist will be able to nip it in the bud every time. As a result, you may want to see your dentist more often per year than you did before developing diabetes.

Diabetes can wreak havoc on your oral health. With this knowledge, you can take extra steps to care for your oral hygiene at home by flossing and brushing. Talk to a dentist such as Piotrowski  Bradley T DDS MS d LLC to find out how often you should visit them to ensure that your diabetes doesn't cause tooth loss or severe gum disease.