Diabetes and Dentists

Every breath you exhale through your mouth brings bacteria from your respiratory tract in to your mouth. Microbes from the outside world can enter your mouth every time you open your mouth. Close proximity with a person who has a cough or a cold puts you in special danger! 

Many of the microscopic bugs which transit through your mouth prefer to travel in to your digestive and respiratory systems, or in to blood, and the other parts of your upper body, but many of the ones which enter along with food and drink prefer to live between your teeth and off your gums. Quite a few enjoy the corridor between your mouth and inner ears, and travel back and forth as though shopping in a mall!

A healthy human body has a pretty tough job of policing the insides of your mouth, making sure that any pathogens in transit are at least chased away, if not killed outright. Flossing and brushing help a great deal, because they dislodge pieces of food in which bacteria love to hide.

Dentists always look for signs of diseased gums because they can cause you much harm and distress. Diabetes reduces your immunity, and an infection pushes your blood glucose up. Therefore, a person with diabetes is more vulnerable to periodontal diseases than others with normal glucose metabolism.

A dentist will check your blood glucose status before any major invasive work, but it helps to be pro-active with more frequent visit to the dentist if you have diabetes. So reduce your handicap with respect to dental health as a result of diabetes, with additional dental vigilance, and fastidious oral hygiene. Visit your dentist today for reassurance that diabetes has not affected your gums, and for more information on what you can do for the stereo benefits of healthy gums and top blood glucose control.