A healthy, attractive smile can be one of the most important physical aspect of our lives. Teeth play a pivotal role when chewing a digesting food, they help us speak and annunciate words, give our face proper shape, and help project happiness. The day to day benefits of a healthy smile give us greater confidence in our social lives, personal relationships and even your career. Because of this, overall, all oral health is critical.
Good oral health can have so many life-changing benefits. A healthy smile can truly transform positivity of our mind-set, as well as improving the health of not only our mouth but our body too.
So, what exactly are the health benefits of having good oral health?
A Healthy Smile for Life
Something a simple as brushing and flossing your teeth twice a day, ensuring your diet is low in sugar, and paying a visit to your friendly dentist every few months can help reduce the risk of dental diseases like tooth decay, gum disease, and gingivitis. All of these ailments can contribute to tooth loss.
Fun Fact! – Research shows that those who maintain proper oral health throughout their lives and keep their teeth can actually live longer.
Reducing the Risk of Non-Oral Diseases
Believe it or not, those effected with sever gum disease have an increased percentage of bacteria that resides in their mouth. Bacteria from the mouth can eventually work its way into the bloodstream. These bacteria can produce a dangerous protein which can cause the blood to become more viscus or thicken. Blood clot can eventually form and slowly begin to starve your heart of proper nutrients and function. The oxygen needed to populate blood become restricted and can increase the risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
Cancers & Dementia
Keeping our mouth happy and healthy can greatly reduce our risk of certain cancers and dementia. This is particular prevalent in women.
New research, which examined data from 65,000 post-menopausal women between the ages of 54 and 86, found those with a history of gum disease were 14% more likely to develop cancer. Of these, one in three developed breast cancer while there was also a highly-increased risk of lung cancer, esophageal, gall bladder and skin cancers. – BreastCancer.org
Additionally, those who have healthy gum are 70% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Maintaining A Sterling Appearance
Keeping our teeth clean, happy, and healthy can help us avoid bad breath or halitosis. Bad breath is very common and is often caused by a buildup of plaque and is a symptom of gum disease and tooth decay, as well as being embarrassing
Tooth staining is another common symptom. Tooth staining is natural can occur dur to some foods and drinks. Additionally, staining is often associated with smoking, drinking tea, coffee or red acidic wines.
Stained teeth are not usually harmful and have low impact on the health of our teeth but they can make us feel a bit self-conscious.
In most cases we should be able to prevent surface staining with regular cleaning, while more stubborn stains may need to be addressed by your dentist and their team.