A part of proper hygiene is good oral health. However, it is often neglected. Some people only tend to pay close attention to it if they already feel irritabilities or pain with their teeth. As they say, the mouth is the window to the body’s health. Good oral health gives an impression that a person is also healthy on the inside.
Focusing on oral health is more important now than ever because it doesn’t only affect your health, but it’s also a significant factor that improves well-being. Here are other reasons why you need to give importance to your oral health:
Helps You Save Money
Receiving dental services is not cheap. That’s why not all people are privileged to visit their dentists regularly. A way to ensure you will not be spending hundreds of dollars just to do corrective procedures to your teeth is preventive maintenance. Preventive measures like brushing and flossing the teeth are the cheaper options. But routine checkups are much cheaper compared to fixing or removing a damaged tooth.
Detection and early prevention of dental problems are only identified during a dentist appointment. Your dentist may do preventive procedures like teeth cleaning where plague and bacteria buildup are removed, so that it wouldn’t cause tooth decay. It may take some time before you can feel pain and other irritabilities, so before you end up dealing with a painful tooth, it’s important to visit your dentist now.
One of the reasons why people neglect to have regular checkups is because they fear the dentist. It may be because of a bad experience in the past. A way to deal with it is to find a reputable dental clinic where you can be comfortable. If you’re in Singapore, clinics like Ocean Dental Singapore and other dental clinics offer one-stop-shop services for your oral needs. They also have well-skilled dental specialists who provide personalized service.
Oral Health Is Linked To General Health
Like any other part of the body, the mouth has beneficial bacteria. However, if you have oral disease, bad bacteria, that also reside in the mouth, may no longer be under control. Since your mouth is the entry point of the body, specifically leading to the respiratory and digestive tract, any bacteria that stays in the mouth can be flushed down into these body systems. They then can contribute to different diseases and conditions.
Here are the possible communicable and lifestyle diseases that you may suffer because of bad oral health:
- Heart Disease: The bacteria from the mouth can be a cause for heart disease, specifically endocarditis, where the heart’s inner lining is infected due to bacterial buildup. It is believed that bacteria may spread through the bloodstream. And it’s from where bacteria are transported into the heart.
- Pneumonia: Accumulated bacteria in the mouth can trickle down to the respiratory system during sleep. If you don’t take a brush at night, foreign materials such as food debris, biofilm, and saliva from the oral cavity descend into the lung alveoli and bronchial tree, that may cause aspiration pneumonia.
- Oral Cancer: It’s thought that the common cause of oral cancer is the use of tobacco. But it’s not solely because of smoking. Having poor oral hygiene increases the risk of having mouth cancer or throat cancer.
- Digestive Problems: When you have a toothache or other tooth disease that makes it hard for you to chew food, there’s a tendency to lead to the stomach’s inability to digest food easily. Another cause of a digestion problem is that the bacteria in the mouth travels along with the food, saliva, or drinks that you swallow. This can cause imbalance in the gut microbiome.
To Have A Brighter Smile
Your smile is one of the first things other people see. If you don’t have a nice set of teeth, it can greatly dent your confidence and self-esteem, especially during social situations. That is why it’s important to focus on your oral health now than ever.
If you have the budget, you may opt for cosmetic dentistry, where they focus on enhancing your smile. If you have crooked teeth, cosmetic dentistry will find a way on how to improve them through the use of braces, veneers, and other advanced technologies. These can greatly beautify your teeth and smile.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to focus on oral health to avoid getting related health complications and issues. You must do all means to protect your healthy mouth and teeth, because once oral health is damaged, it’ll cost you a lot just to have it fixed. In turn, it can also affect your confidence, and how people see you.
