Most of us go about our regular oral care without knowing the effects it has on our overall health. Gums can say a lot about what is wrong with our health. It is believed that almost 50% of the people have varied stages of gum problems.
Gum disease is an infection caused by dental plaque bacteria that creep in underneath the gums. This infection slowly erodes away the foundations of the teeth. Then the gums start to shrink, the teeth get loose and wobbly and, if left untreated, we finally end up with abscesses and the loss of our teeth. But that’s not all.
Research has shown that gum infections have very harmful effects throughout our bodies. Did you know there is a major connection between gum disease and heart disease?
It is now known that the bacteria from gum disease can settle on the heart valves and cause permanent damage to them. Once this happens the heart will be unable to work efficiently and it becomes more susceptible to other infections.
Also, women who have active gum disease during their pregnancy are more likely to have pre-term and low birth weight babies as the body cannot concentrate all its resources on the baby while it has to continuously fight off an ongoing infection in the mouth.
