You'll be Shocked at the Diseases Directly Related to Poor Oral Health

Teresa Neumann : Aug 29, 2013
Kristen Hallam – Bloomberg News

"Something as simple as treating gum disease, a neglected and often painless condition, could limit damage from some of the world's most widespread and costly illnesses."

Researchers continue to find diseases related directly to oral health. If you hate having your teeth cleaned, have bleeding gums, or simply think dental hygiene is for obsessive compulsives, take note: heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, obesity, pregnancy complications and Alzheimer's are just a few of the conditions doctors say you could be setting yourself up for.

Indeed, a recent report from Bloomberg News states, "Something as simple as treating gum disease, a neglected and often painless condition, could limit damage from some of the world's most widespread and costly illnesses."

How could a condition so seemingly common and innocuous have so much deadly potential you ask?

Inflammation.

According to Frank Scannapieco of the University of Buffalo's School of Dentistry, germs (there are over 1,000 different kinds of bacteria in human mouths) travel from the mouth and can enter the bloodstream.

Numerous other studies and reports confirm the connection. A Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researcher, Yiping Han, has linked the prevalent oral bacteria, Fusobacterium, to stillbirth, post-birth sepsis and premature births.

"Almost every disease in research literature reviewed has the presence of Fusobacterium at the diseased site," said Han.

Oral bacteria, like Fusobacterium, have developed the ability to slip between cells in blood vessel walls to enter the blood and establish "colonies" in various parts of the body—which Han has described as a key that opens the door, allowing other oral bacteria in.

Once a colony is established, Han explained, it triggers the biochemical process that creates inflammation that can develop into plaque in the heart, erosion of the bone in arthritis or bacteria in the lungs that can cause a newborn's death.

Fusobacterium also have a mechanism to attach to cell walls and set the body's immune response in motion.

Once the bacteria cause inflammation, the researchers said, they become bona fide pathogens that incite diseases.

If that doesn't have you jumping up to brush and floss your teeth, I don't know what will.