Dr. Srishti Punjani
New Delhi, January 13-Dental Health is one of the most ignored aspects of one’s health. We all have a phobia of visiting the dentist for the fear of being detected with something major or the long bill that might follow. Amidst all this dilemma of whether or not to visit the dentist , we forget to give these natural diamonds their due and take their health for granted.
Our mouth is a window to our overall health and often the little signs that manifest in our mouth could lead to the detection of various diseases. Certain types of cancers have their first signs near the mouth or the dentist’s zone of interest.
First signs of gum disease could lead us to your heart. Here is what you should look out for:
Bleeding Gums: During routine tooth brushing , one often encounters a little bleeding in the foam that you spit. Gums are pink due to their rich blood supply or vascularity. Chronic Gum infection or periodontitis habours a particular strain of bacteria that causes disease on the valves of our heart.
Bad Odour: Bad odour or halitosis could be associated with your gum pockets being unclean. This could lead to severe gum disease. An adequate cleaning of your tongue and a professional scaling bi-triannually would hardly burden your pocket and keep you away from this menace.
Moving Teeth: Extremely poor oral hygiene , builds up excessive tartar in our mouth which burdens our gum tissue and weakens it. Gums once weak also weaken the bone surrounding our teeth and hence cause tooth mobility.
Excessive Tooth Decay: excessive tooth decay could build up bacteria around those teeth and lead to gum irritation. Gum infections can transfer bad bacteria to the blood stream and lead to severe health issues.
Habits: Habits like smoking cigarettes/bidis generate heat in our mouth and make the gums more prone to catching infection. Smoking also lowers the immunity of our mouth, creating a favourable environment for bacterial growth.
Men have a higher prevalence of severe periodontitis when compared to females. Females are susceptible to severe gingivitis and periodontitis during hormonal changes in their body like pregnancy, puberty and menopause. Baby steps should be stated in home care regime to alleviate the disease burden.
Some of these steps are – Regular Dental Check-Up and scaling
every 4-5 months, using an electric toothbrush and regular ossing of your teeth using a manual or water flosser. Mouth rinses are an effective way to maintain oral hygiene.
(The writer is BDS, PGDip in Cosmetic Dentistry and Chief Dental Surgeon- Coral Dental, Delhi)
