What Your Mouth Reveals about Your Health

What your mouth reveals about your Health

A mouth with healthy gums, strong teeth, neutral breathing, and a clean tongue generally indicates good overall health and hygiene. Additionally, maintaining good oral health can prevent many dental diseases and conditions from developing in the mouth. The mouth is one of the first places to show symptoms of many illnesses, not only dental diseases.  

Bleeding gums are one of the first symptoms of many blood-related diseases. For example, periodontitis, a disease that attacks the gums and bones around the teeth, is often diagnosed along with many heart conditions. Keeping good oral hygiene and a clean and healthy mouth is directly related to staying healthy and preventing the development of disease. Therefore, it is important to understand your oral health.

Signs and Symptoms of Common Oral Conditions

1. Tooth decay

Tooth decay and gum disease are the most common oral issues. They are caused by plaque, a sticky combination of bacteria and food. Within minutes of eating, plaque starts to build up on your teeth. If you don't clean your teeth well every day, plaque can lead to tooth decay or gum disease. If you don't remove plaque, it will turn into a hard deposit called tartar that gets trapped at the roots of your teeth. Plaque and tartar can irritate and inflame the gums. Then the gums will become infected, swollen, or tender. 

Tooth decay is damage to the tooth surface or enamel, which causes cavities (dental caries), the holes in the teeth. If not treated, it will lead to pain, infection, and even tooth loss.

2. Periodontal disease

Another oral disease, periodontal disease is primarily the result of infection and inflammation of the gums and bones that surround and support the teeth. It is more common in adults. In an early stage called gingivitis, the gums become swollen and red, and they may bleed. In a more severe form, called periodontitis, gums may come off the teeth, the bone may be lost, and teeth may become loose or even fall out. 

Tooth decay and periodontal disease are two major threats to dental health. Therefore, realizing the influences of dental diseases and forming good oral hygiene is important. Apart from preventing oral diseases, good oral health also helps to prevent diabetes, heart disease, and many other health problems as well. As you see, nowadays, dental education has been popular in schools, hospitals, clinics, and even communities.