Oral Hygiene and Smoking

Recently I went to the dental office. It had been 7-8 years after the last visit of mine. Going to the dentist merely did not become a priority once my kids were born. Life kind of got a bit of busy along with the focus became more concerning the kid’s overall health rather than my own. Besides, my last dental check up was great. I was told I had healthful strong teeth.

I fully expected another radiant report this time – I’m unsure the reason why. But there I went, with confidence in to the chair. As soon as the dentist came in to chat with me, I was shocked by what she said. For starters, she was talking being about oral cancer. After that , she talked to me about periodontal health. I paused for a moment to make confident I was at the appropriate place.

I thought dentists simply cleaned your teeth, took x rays and prodentim.com filled cavities. This was the first time a dentist was capturing an active interest into the all around health of my mouth. I really didn’t understand how to react. In the beginning, I thought she was just trying to create a few extra bucks from me as well as the insurance of mine. But as I’ve talked to men and women about my experience, they echoed the story of mine.

It seems, the tooth world has changed within the last decade. It’s starting to be far more of, how can I say this, a sophisticated science? I was amazed at the conversation my dentist and I had. We talked about heart disorders, oral cancer screening, gum disease, bone loss, etc. Following the visit of mine, I understood exactly why the parents of mine each had about 4-5 crowns and quite fragile teeth.

As I am a respiratory therapist, the conversation considered smoking and how smoking is such an issue with dental health. Not simply does smoking discolor tooth as well as cause bad breath, though it also puts the gum tissue in a continuous state of inflammation. This’s incredibly similar to what goes on in COPD/emphysema where the lung tissue stays inflamed. Normal healthy tissue wasn’t intended to stay inflamed. This basically changes the entire dynamic of how the tissue relates to it’s bony buildings and it’s normal bacteria flora.

Smoking also worsens periodontal disease and tooth decay. Periodontal disease happens if the tooth exhibits bone loss within the gum. This causes a pocket round the tooth by which bacteria can erode at the tooth much more. Sooner or later, this could result in heart problems. I know, you are asking yourself, “heart disease, how?”. Well, the bacteria can go into the bloodstream in the tooth. Just once in the blood stream, it is able to go just about anywhere. It has been recognized to end up in the heart tissue and also on the heart valves, and don’t think for a minute that the chance is a remote one. As I said, dental science is becoming even stronger and far more compelling.