How regular teeth cleanings can save your life

Regular Teeth Cleanings Could Help Prevent Life-Threatening Diseases Having great oral hygiene is not only good for your smile, but it is beneficial to your overall health as well. When you have regular teeth cleanings done, a dentist could help save your life by discovering issues that lead to serious medical problems, including infection, diabetes, gum disease, strokes, alcoholism, heart disease, and more. Oral Cancer
Regular teeth cleanings could help your dentist detect oral cancer, and possibly save your life. With more people consuming alcohol or smoking cigarettes, in addition to aging and other lifestyle choices, oral cancer is on the rise. Each year, more than 30,000 people are predicted to be diagnosed with oral cancer, but through regular cleanings, the disease can be detected early-on, and immediate action could be taken to help treat the disease before it worsens, or leads to other life-threatening medical conditions.
Diseases in the Mouth
It is a fact that many diseases in a person’s mouth are associated with Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Regular teeth cleanings could help you and your family avoid gum disease, which leads to these conditions, and many more. Low birth rates have also been linked to gum disease (also referred to as periodontal disease).
When it pertains to diabetes, many people who have poor blood sugar control are known to be diagnosed with severe cases of gum disease. If you can avoid sugary foods and beverages, it is not only a great way to protect you from gum disease, but it allows you to have diabetic control. However, regular cleanings could help remove the bacteria buildup in your mouth that is caused by sugary foods. Teeth cleanings help remove the bacteria that you may not be able to reach when you brush and floss your teeth regularly. Failing to do so allows the bacteria to get into your bloodstream, clogging up
your arteries, leading to heart attacks and strokes. The tartar could also cause the teeth to pull away from the gums, which leads to gum disease. By treating your teeth and removing the bacteria buildup, you could prevent a heart attack and other life-threatening illnesses.
Early Detection
By having teeth cleanings, your dentist can detect any dental issues early-on, which allows you to receive the necessary treatment to prevent these long-term issues. For example, teeth cleanings could help you prevent the loss of teeth. Other examples include cavities and broken fillings. By scheduling teeth cleanings, your dentist can treat these issues easily, and possibly prevent them from leading to gum surgery, teeth removal, or oral surgery, which can be expensive and serious issues.
Speak with your dentist about scheduling regular cleanings. Most full coverage dental insurance plans provide multiple cleanings under the policy per year; you should never skip these cleanings or regular checkups because they could help save you from serious illnesses.
Alcoholism
Dentists not only have the ability to detect and diagnose patients with oral cancer and diabetes, but through regular teeth cleanings and checkups, your dentist could detect alcoholism. Drinking alcohol has a negative impact on the teeth. There are common oral ailments that dentist detect that indicate someone in your family may have an alcohol addiction. Those ailments include tooth decay and gum disease. Poor dental hygiene is one of the most common factors associated with alcohol abuse, but with regular teeth cleanings and trips to the dentist, he will be able to catch those dental problems
before they worsen.
If your dentist is able to catch this serious disease, you could help your loved one get the treatment that he needs for his addiction, which could prevent many life-threatening issues, including liver disease. You do not want to wait until an alcohol addiction has destroyed your loved one’s oral health, personal and professional relationships, and overall health before you get him the treatment that he
needs.
More than 80% of Americans have some form of gum disease, which leads to more serious conditions, including oral cancer, diabetes, pregnancy issues and low birth rate, or alcoholism. A little more than 20% of those cases are children between the ages of 2-19. You should take advantage of the teeth cleanings provided by your dental insurance plan each year. Remember that great oral hygiene
leads to a beautiful smile and good overall health