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Good oral health is important; practising good oral hygiene can help prevent common dental problems, including gum disease and tooth decay. This is because a proper oral care routine helps prevent the buildup of bacteria in dental plaque, a sticky biofilm continually forming over your teeth and gums. Taking care of your teeth can prevent premature loss and greatly enhance the chances that they will last for life. However, there is also a strong link between dental health and overall health. As we discover more about how the two are connected, it highlights the importance of good dental care.

How Can Oral Health Affect General Health?

While most people know that poor oral health will lead to tooth loss and can cause gum disease, not everyone realises it’s also linked to other general health problems. These health problems include cancer, heart disease, diabetes and dementia and rheumatoid arthritis. For example, if you have gum disease, it can increase your chances of developing serious health problems. If you already have problems with your general health, then developing gum disease could worsen them.

The connection is due to the bacteria found in dental plaque. Normally, if you practice good oral care, most plaque is removed when you brush and floss your teeth regularly, and these harmful bacteria are confined to your mouth. However, if you neglect to brush and floss regularly, these bacteria can infect and inflame your gums, causing them to bleed more readily. As they bleed, harmful bacteria can easily enter your bloodstream, where they can go on to create new sites of inflammation around the body. If you have diabetes, for example, these bacteria in your bloodstream can make it harder to maintain stable blood sugar levels. At the same time, uncontrolled diabetes can increase glucose levels in saliva, fueling the very bacteria that can cause gum disease and worsening this condition.

When you see our dentist, we can often tell quite a bit about your general health when we examine your mouth and may be able to detect early signs of disease. For example, diabetes can cause oral health problems like mouth sores, which can also be the case with other systemic diseases.

Did you know your saliva can reveal a lot about your dental health? Saliva testing can detect certain proteins and be useful when monitoring people with osteoporosis or checking cortisol levels.

These are just some reasons why we like to see our patients regularly, usually every six months. When you visit our practice for check-ups, we always like to review your medical history with you in case anything has changed so we can adjust your dental care plan if necessary. We will also do everything possible to help you gain and maintain good oral health between dental visits through dental education, and we can provide dietary advice if needed. By working together, we can keep your smile looking good and protect your general health at the same time. 

When considering oral health, you probably think about brushing and flossing your teeth regularly and visiting the dentist for check-ups and hygiene appointments. While these are important, other lifestyle factors, including sleep quality, can affect your oral health.

The quality of your sleep may be the last thing you have thought about when it comes to oral health, but getting a good night’s sleep ensures your body can rest and repair vital functions and helps reduce stress levels, helping protect your heart health. Poor quality sleep can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases, including those affecting your oral health. Below are just some of the ways sleep is linked to your oral health.

A Healthy Immune System Helps Fight Infection

A healthy immune system is essential for fighting infection and illness, including those caused by harmful bacteria in the mouth. When you have good quality sleep, your immune system produces proteins called cytokines that help fight infection. If you sleep poorly, your immune system is weakened, making it harder for your body to fight infections such as gum disease and tooth decay.

Sleep Apnoea 

Many people have a condition called obstructive sleep apnoea, where they have poor quality sleep and which is characterised by loud snoring where sufferers breathe through the mouth. It is caused when the throat muscles holding open the airway relax during sleep, allowing it to collapse inwards. As a result, the airway becomes partially blocked, and breathing ceases for several seconds. Sleep apnoea can affect sleep quality, negatively impacting the immune system, so it is less able to fight infection and disease. Sufferers are often unaware they have sleep apnoea unless a sleeping partner alerts them to their loud snoring, but they can wake up feeling ill-rested and continually tired.

Dry Mouth

Sleeping with your mouth open causes a condition called dry mouth or xerostomia. When the mouth becomes dry, it is more prone to infection and disease as saliva is a protective fluid that helps to keep your mouth clean and fresh. The risk of developing diseases like gum disease and tooth decay is higher when your mouth is drier.

Bruxism

Teeth grinding and clenching is a condition called bruxism and tends to be a nocturnal habit. It can be associated with sleep apnoea and causes considerable damage to dental health. People with bruxism can wear their teeth down to little more than stubs, and it can cause gum recession and problems with their jaw joints.

Ensuring You Get Good Quality Sleep Maintain Good Oral Health

Try to stop using phones, tablets or other technologies that emit blue light before you go to bed, and follow a regular routine at night to get eight hours minimum. Ensure your bedroom is at a comfortable temperature and 18°C is thought to be ideal, and that it is a welcoming, relaxing environment that is sufficiently dark to go to sleep easily. Immediately before you go to bed, make sure you brush and floss your teeth thoroughly and avoid snacking. It can be helpful to keep a glass of water beside your bed so that if you wake up, you can take a sip and moisten your mouth.

Everyone visiting our dental practice always receives a warm welcome from our kind and caring staff. We have worked hard to create a relaxing environment so people can feel comfortable visiting us, but we realise this isn’t always enough. 

Many people feel a little bit of anxiety when visiting the dentist, but they can overcome these feelings to make that appointment to come and see us. Some people have deep-seated anxieties and fears, so even scheduling an appointment feels uncomfortable at best. Unfortunately, these fears can prevent them from seeking regular preventive dental care, and the only time they will come and see us is when they are in pain or discomfort and when it is so severe, they can no longer tolerate these feelings.

If you find visiting the dentist tricky or visits promote feelings of fear or anxiety, please talk to us as we can help. Listed below are some of the most common dental fears that we can help you overcome and include:

• Embarrassment about your teeth
• Fear of being in pain
• Fear of having injections
• Fear of not becoming numb
• Having a strong gag reflex
• Fear of the sights, sounds and smells in a dental practice
• Fear of not being in control
• A previous bad experience in the dental chair

Whatever your reason, we know how to help you. 

How We Can Help You Conquer Your Feelings

There is no need to feel embarrassed if it has been a while since you saw a dentist, as our dental team is kind, compassionate and respectful, and you can rest assured we never judge. There is no need to worry that dental care will feel painful, and please remember your initial appointment will only be a dental examination, and no treatment will be provided. However, if you come to see us with a dental emergency, we can provide immediate treatment to help relieve pain and discomfort. 

If you need treatment, we will explain exactly what will happen and allow plenty of time to answer your questions. Sometimes simply knowing more about a procedure and what to expect can be very reassuring. Some people also find deep breathing exercises can help them relax before seeing their dentist, or listening to music while in the dental chair is a great distraction.

Before any treatment begins, we will ensure that your mouth is comfortably numb, and we can use various techniques to ensure the injection feels pain-free, using topical gel to numb the injection site first. Slowly administering the injection is another technique to ensure it feels more comfortable.

During treatment, we will regularly check to make sure you feel okay for us to continue, and remember, you can stop treatment at any point just by raising your hand or using another prearranged signal. Knowing you can stop treatment can help conquer feelings of not being in control. If you feel particularly nervous or need lengthier treatment, we can discuss dental sedation to help you feel more comfortable.

The great thing about receiving dental care to restore dental health is that subsequent appointments should feel easier, especially as you have more positive experiences when visiting us.