It is never too late to refocus and restart your dental health. According to a recent poll from the American Academy of General Dentistry, over 30 percent of the population has yet to visit the dentist since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Dental health is linked to our overall health and wellness. Taking care of dental health is all about keeping our overall health in the wellness mode.

Do you have high A1C? Is your sed rate high, are you pre-diabetic, do you have high blood pressure, arthritis or artificial joints that you have to be cautious about infections? These are just a few of the medical issues that can improve with a good dental cleaning, by reducing the bacteria plaque biofilm and calculus (the hard stuff) in the mouth.

The gums around our teeth act like the seal on a jar. When gums are healthy, they form a seal around the tooth and prevent bacteria from the mouth entering the bloodstream. When the seal is breached, the bacteria from the mouth gets into the bloodstream, which is the oral systemic connection.

Tooth Tip: Use a soft toothbrush because it does not wear away the teeth. Brush in the morning when you get up and at night before you go to sleep. Use basic toothpaste, which contains less sand silica—an abrasive in most of the whitener toothpastes on the market. Use floss, floss picks, interdental brushes, a water flosser or Waterpik, to remove the food particles stuck between teeth. Rinse with lots of water.

Healthy gums are supposed to be pink and not bleeding. Bleeding gums are caused by gingivitis, but the good news is that it is reversible. We can reverse bleeding gums and gingivitis. We can slow the progression of periodontal disease and keep the bone levels where they are by doing preventative care—clean, clean, clean.

When gingivitis is left to progress, the bacteria secretes acids that break down the natural gum barriers and break down our bone; when the bone is lost around teeth, this is periodontal disease. The latest statistic is 47 percent of adults over the age of 30 have periodontal disease.
We now have tests to determine the different bacteria naturally found in the mouth and their concentration levels, high or low, thus detecting and recognizing the possibility of it causing systemic disease. Our own genetics of inflammatory factors can be tested as well, to help determine outside factors that create a good environment for the bad bacteria and prevent it from developing to potentially harmful levels. It is also known that high bacteria biofilms are created by acid-loving bacteria which cause cavities.

All this can be assessed with a bacteria load test, which is a simple saliva test in the office. A disclosing solution can show the bacteria biofilm on teeth.

Why is all this important? For diabetics, the inflammation and infection is bad because it increases blood sugar, sed rate and A1C. Having inflammation and infection in the body wears the immune system down. This can also flare up arthritis.

The mouth gives the first signs of over 75 percent of diseases—it is that important.

No matter where you are now in your preventative care and dental visits, take some time to re-evaluate your dental health. You are the one that benefits in the long term, through your improved overall dental and health wellness. If you have not seen a dentist, it is time for a dental visit and cleaning.

Dr. Christine Skordeles launched her office as a Cosmetic Digital Technology Dentist for the past 20-plus years in Midtown Manhattan and is now open in Greenwich. She is a published author and has lectured nationally and internationally on adhesive and restorative dentistry, whitening and waterline biofilm. She urges anyone interested in entering the field of dentistry to contact her. Connect at 203-661-1113, [email protected] or DrSkordeles.com. See ad, page 7.