The impact dental disease has on the entire body is just starting to be uncovered, and it could be colossal!
“It’s an area that’s widely misunderstood,” says Sydney based Dentist and Co founder of DentalHub Dr. Steven Lin, who goes on to say that: “the dental community has long recognized periodontal disease (gum disease) as an underlying factor for heart disease, but now we are starting to realize that dental issues could be triggering a multitude of other chronic health disorders too.”
The evidence to support the case is growing with numerous medical journals now publishing studies on the links, such as in: research published from Yale University, in the Journal of The American Society of Microbiology and publications in The American Academy of Periodontology.
Gum disease is known to be inflammation of the oral tissues caused by the presence of bacteria. Whilst we don’t completely understand how, it’s thought that Inflammatory molecules which are released and can circulate throughout the body, potentially switching on a cascade of other chronic inflammatory states such as: obesity, diabetes, pre-term pregnancy, autoimmune disorders, arthritis and more.
“And it very possibly all comes down to nutritional issues”, says Dr. Lin.
In the case of tooth decay the presence of sugar and high carbohydrate foods, such as: soft drinks, junk foods, lollies, excess fruit and juice consumption and even formula feeding; ‘bad bacteria’ in the mouth thrive, as they feed off all the sugar. The bacteria strip off our enamel, burrow in, and basically try and use our teeth as their new home.
Before high sugar and carbohydrate diets, our teeth, jaw and facial growth were nothing like they are today, and it may all be linked to what we are eating, and which nutrients we are supplying to our growing bodies.
Next week I will continue with Part 2 of my interview with Dr. Lin who talks about how our diet is also connected to the high incidence of crooked teeth, impacted wisdom teeth, jaw malformations, sleep apnea, facial growth and more.
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