Going to the dentist can be a frightening experience. Unless you have excellent dental insurance and competent as well as a compassionate dentist, you may find it easier to schedule routine dental cleaning with the dental hygienist and examinations every six months. However, if you can’t afford the skyrocketing costs of dental care by only making an appointment when a filling falls out, crack a tooth or some other disaster, then are putting your gums at more risk than you may realize. Without healthy gums, you just may lose your teeth to periodontal disease but also comprise your overall wellness.
The reason neglecting gums matter so much is because the mouth is a breeding ground of bacteria. You may regularly brush and floss, but you still have the problem of plague that eventually hardens to form tartar from those colonies of bacteria finding their way into the spaces between the teeth and tissues surrounding the teeth and bone. In fact, you may not suspect anything is wrong with your gums until much later–and at a terrible cost for your wallet and health.
Healthy gums are pink or light brown. However, if you notice red, swollen, tender gums or any bleeding, then this could be the first stage of gingivitis. As this form of gum disease progresses, you may have horrible breath or the bleeding of the gums could be worse. You may see some pus or notice a tooth is feeling loose as well. At this stage, you may need a dentist to cut the gums with a scaling and root planing procedure to deep clean all the built-up bacteria.
Certain health conditions also can make you more vulnerable to gum disease. For example, if you have diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, and some cancers, you have an increased chance of gum disease.
How keeping gum healthy matter for overall wellness is because unhealthy gums could possibly cause cardiovascular disease due the inflammation and bacteria in the arteries and heart. If you are pregnant, you could have a premature baby or extremely tiny one. With all the bacteria that could be in your mouth and spreading through your system, including your respiratory track, you could even develop pneumonia.
I don’t want to scare you, but having professional dental cleaning is, perhaps, may even be more important than a mere dental examination. Therefore, you can help yourself by knowing what signs to look for because keeping gum healthy matter more than you may realize for overall wellness.
In the meantime, keep on brushing and flossing and avoiding smoking if you can. You also want to try to eat as healthy of a diet as you can. In addition, I hope that you read my post with the 12 worst foods for your teeth and the best foods to chew on.
