As one of the most prevalent diseases in America, it’s likely that you know someone affected by diabetes, or perhaps you are a person with diabetes yourself. Did you know that for someone with diabetes, visiting a Newport Beach dentist is even more important? While managing your blood sugar is important for keeping your teeth and gums healthy, the opposite can also be true. Maintaining a healthy mouth is important for keeping your blood sugar in range.
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Avoid Infections
Uncontrolled blood sugar means that your risk of infections of every kind is increased, but oral infections can be insidious and move quickly. Regular checkups and cleanings can help catch infections while they’re managable, or prevent them altogether, avoiding the pain, risk of tooth loss, and even surgery that can sometime be required to treat severe infection.
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Reduce Inflammation
Even mouth irritation like gingivitis, which many people assume is “mild”, can cause your body to activate your immune system. This systemic inflammation is hard on more than just your teeth. It can increase your risk of heart disease, and actually cause your blood sugar to be elevated (in the same way that you might notice your blood sugar is harder to manage when you have a fever).
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Improve Quality Of Living
Avoiding infections and inflammation can help you keep your blood sugar in range, which in turn can help avoid other complications of diabetes. But feeling guilty about complications that might occur someday doesn’t work as a motivator for everyone, and luckily great dental care can start improving your life today. Keeping your mouth health can help you both avoid tooth pain and difficulty eating and feel confident about smiling. Your quality of life is too important to suffer from poor oral health.
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Catch Problems Early
Your mouth can offer valuable clues to the health of your whole body. Whether it’s catching an infection, identifying thrush, cavities, or other problems, regular dental care has the ability to give you important clues about your health. If your dentist mentions that you have gingivitis, for example, then you might want to check with your diabetes doctor about whether you need to manage your blood sugar more tightly.
Diabetes is a challenge for anyone to manage, one that nobody should have to try to handle by themselves. Your dentist should be one of several people on your team to ensure that you are living your best, healthiest life. Why not schedule an appointment today?
Sources:
Diabetes: Dental Tips – https://www.nidcr.nih.gov
Diabetes And Dental Care – www.webmd.com.