Oral health and systemic health - What’s the Link?

By: Dr. Boyer September 03, 2021

I have a straightforward question for you: “Can you feed clean, healthy meat through a polluted mince machine and hope to get clean and healthy mincemeat?” Indeed, your answer will be a quick and emphatic “No!” And that is my point. Purest, healthiest food passing through a diseased mouth is going to carry disease into your stomach, and to your entire body, including your vital organs like the heart.

The Oral Systemic Link

The function of a healthy mouth is to process your food intake into something that your stomach can further process to generate energy. Your teeth chew the morsel virtually into a paste, that is, if you are not into a habit of gulping down too quickly. Your mouth applies enzymes contained in your saliva and mixes them thoroughly before you push your morsel down. In this process, the food comes in very intimate contact with your gums and teeth. What would you expect if the gums suffer from disease? Diseased gums host a lot of harmful bacteria. When you chew with a diseased mouth, these bacteria mix with your food and find your way into the stomach. Not all of them will be neutralized by the acid in your stomach.

Oral and Physical Health - What’s the Link?

One may argue that if this reasoning is correct, there must be a correlation between mouth disease and people’s general health. That is correct. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is a direct link between oral health and general well-being. According to the American Dental Association, various research studies have shown that the harmful bacteria inside the inflamed gums can enter the bloodstream and travel to different body organs and cause serious, even life-threatening medical complications like heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and hypertension. A recent study published in the journal Pathogen provided a strong correlation between periodontal health and preterm and low birth weight.

A Healthy Mouth Leads to a Healthy Mind and Body

Your mouth is a gateway to your entire body. If the mouth is diseased, you cannot expect the rest of your body to be healthy. So, if you want to live a healthy and active life, you must take care of your oral health. If you want further information and advice, it will be available at Elite Dental with your Simi Valley Dentist. But one thing is now crystal clear: avoiding dental checkups can increase the risks to your health and result in more costly medical needs. So do not hesitate, if you have not had a dental check recently, please pick up your phone and schedule an appointment with Dr. Boyer by calling (805) 581-0144 at Elite Dental Implant Center.

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