Over the past couple of years, there has been an increasing interest in whether or not having a dirty mouth will affect your overall health, and even your lifespan. Recent studies have shown that people who suffer from serious gum disease are 40 percent likelier to have a chronic condition overlap their unclean mouth. It has been proven that having a dirty mouth will affect your overall health and your lifespan. The bacteria that build up over time on teeth allows the gums to become more prone to infections. Your immune system will try to tackle this before your gums can become inflamed, which will continue unless this infection is able to be controlled.

The chemicals and the inflammation will eat away at the bone structure and the gums over time, which will result in periodontitis, also known as severe gum disease, and can lead to other problems that could arise in the rest of your body. This is why tackling inflammation of the gums when it starts is extremely important.

Heart Disease

Heart disease and gum disease go hand-in-hand quite often even though the reason why cannot be fully understood. Approximately 91 percent of patients who have heart disease end up having periodontitis, which can be compared to the 66 percent of patients who do not have heart disease. These conditions also have risk factors in common, which include an unhealthy diet, excess weight and smoking. The theory for this is that the inflammation of the gums further results in inflammation in the body’s blood vessels.

This creates a higher risk for a heart attack because of the fact that when the blood vessels become inflamed, less blood is able to travel from the heart to the rest of the body. This raises the blood pressure significantly.

Osteoporosis

Periodontitis and osteoporosis have bone loss in common even though linking the two is somewhat controversial. The longer bones in the legs and arms are affected when one suffers from osteoporosis while gum disease focuses its attack on the jawbone. Studies have shown that women who suffer from osteoporosis also suffer from gum disease more than those who don’t have osteoporosis. Research is being conducted on the theory of inflammation being triggered by the periodontitis, which weakens bones in other areas of the body.

Other Related Health Problems

• Rheumatoid Arthritis is a disease that can be treated to reduce the swelling and pain.
• Lung conditions, such as pneumonia, can increase because of bacteria in the mouth that makes its way into the lungs over time.
• Studies have linked gum disease to obesity because of the fact that periodontitis progresses at a quicker rate in people who have more body fat.

In conclusion, it’s very important to have a clean mouth for your teeth and gums, and overall health as well. There are many problems that have been linked to oral hygiene through many studies that are ongoing. By having a clean mouth with healthy gums, you will be able to fight off other health problems that are associated with poor oral hygiene.