6 Ways Oral Health Impacts Overall Health
Why Is the Mouth-Body Connection so Important?
Healthcare practitioners say that more than decay or bad breath, poor oral health can impact other parts of your body and lead to various diseases. When bad bacteria are allowed to proliferate, they can harm your teeth and gums but also travel to other parts of the body.
Signs of Poor Oral Health
- Painful chewing
- Bad taste that won’t go away
- Gums that have pulled away from the teeth
- Change in the way your teeth fit together when you bite
The Mouth-Body Connection at Work: 6 Ways Poor Oral Health Impacts Overall Health
- Heart disease
While gum diseases have been considered a risk factor for heart disease, some experts believe that there’s a connection between periodontitis and the development of heart disease.
- Gut problems
According to a study in 2017, when the oral bacteria Klebsiella were ingested by the mice, they could lead to inflammatory disease of the intestines such as ulcerative colitis. It’s a common bacterium in mouth but can wreck havoc in some people.
- Pre-term birth
It’s been observed that periodontal disease could be a risk for pre-term birth because the inflammation associated with periodontal disease triggers an immune response in pregnant women.
- Dementia
A study conducted on the brains of 10 deceased patients found that a specific gum disease bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis was present in four of the brains.
- Diabetes
The liver releases more glucose to give your body energy to fight back and the stress hormones make your cells more resistant to insulin. This makes blood sugar to rise.
- Respiratory infections
Several studies have found a link between respiratory issues and poor oral health.
Tips for Improving Your Own Mouth-Body Connection
- Eat a remineralizing diet
A diet full of berries, dark leafy vegetables, salmon, walnuts, etc can help in getting vitamin K2 and omega-3.
- Take beneficial supplements
Take supplements like pre and probiotics, Vitamin K2 and mineral including magnesium.
- Develop a good oral hygiene routine
Brush and floss your teeth twice daily along with a mouthwash after each meal and visit the dentist near you twice annually.
We are opening with changes to keep you safe!
We are looking forward to seeing each and every one of you, very soon! We will be opening our clinic for all your dental care needs on June 1st. Until then, we are still available for any emergency and urgent dental care you may require.
Our office will have a number of changes designed around giving you a safe, efficient and comfortable experience.
Here’s what to expect:
To book an appointment, please follow the steps below:
Call the office line:
- Comfort Care Dentistry – 403-269-8440
Be prepared to answer the following questions;
- Have you experienced a fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty breathing in the last two weeks, as we will need to know prior to booking?
- Have you travelled outside of Alberta within the last 14 days?
- Have you been diagnosed with covid19 or come in contact with a known covid 19 case?
What we will need from you:
- Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your appointment and be patient as we follow rigorous and mandated Covid 19 protocols including a health screening prior to your appointment. Please sanitize your hands when you arrive.
- Please come to your appointment wearing a mask.
- Be prepared for us to take your temperature at the time of your visit using a no-contact thermometer
- Be prepared to fill out a covid health questionnaire and consent for treatment form when you arrive.
- If you have changes to your insurance, please call the office ahead of time to update this information.
Waiting Room:
- Accompaniment of patients will be limited to one essential caregiver and one parent of minors; all others will be asked to wait in their vehicle outside the clinic.
What the clinic is doing to ensure your safety:
- Enhanced cleaning methods with approved sanitization products
- Hand Sanitization station-please sanitize your hands when you arrive
- Staggered appointment times to allow for cleaning in between patients
- Plexiglas barrier at the front desk to minimize exposure between staff and patient.
- Tap payments (no cash payments will be accepted at this time)
- All team members will be pre-screened before and when they arrive to work to ensure they are healthy to work. Any team member that does not pass the screening will be asked to go home. We are doing this to ensure we are keeping you and all our team members safe. All team members will be wearing the appropriate PPE at all times and employing high standards of hand hygiene and infection control
- All service personnel and couriers will be screened and asked to sanitize when they arrive and all deliveries will be sprayed and stored to sanitize before handling
The above changes may take some time to get used to and may seem overwhelming, but we are making them because the health of our patients and staff remains our top priority.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to seeing you and appreciate your support to help maintain a safe environment in our clinic.