Find Out How These Five Diseases Affect Your Oral Health

Did you know that your oral health is a factor of other diseases from other parts of your body? Here are four examples of diseases that may affect your oral health:

Sjögren's Syndrome

Sjögren's Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder in which your body's immune system attacks its tear ducts and salivary glands. When this happens, you develop a chronic condition of xerostomia (dry eyes and mouth). Unfortunately, having a dry mouth is not good for your teeth because it denies your mouth the cleansing effect of saliva. As a result, you develop bad breath, sticky feeling in the mouth and accumulation of bacteria in your oral cavity. This increases your risk of developing gum disease and tooth decay, among other mouth ailments.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disorder characterized by inflammations in the joints of the body, especially those in the feet and hands. If you have rheumatoid arthritis, then you are eight times more likely to develop gum disease than other people without the condition. Research is yet to unearth the exact cause of the connection, but one of the promising hypotheses is that the inflammation of the joints spreads to the gums because they have roughly similar tissues.

Bulimia

Bulimia is an eating disorder that causes you to binge eat and then purge it from your system, for example, by inducing vomiting. This disorder also has a great effect on your dental health because the contents of the stomach are more acidic than the environment of your oral cavity.

When you expose your teeth to this high level of acidity, they start to erode at the enamels and become extremely sensitive. Apart from that, you may also experience swelling of the mouth tissues, as well as bad breath. Don't forget that eating disorders also leads to poor nutrition, which

Anemia

There are many forms of anemia, but their common denominator is that they reduce the number of red blood cells in your body drastically. As you know, it is the red blood cells that carry oxygen to all parts of your body, including your gums and tongue. When the oral cavity doesn't get the oxygen it needs, then your gums become pale and sore, and your tongue becomes swollen and smooth.

As you can see, there are numerous connections between different diseases and oral cavity health. This is one of the reasons why you should always tell your dentists (like those at Olympia Dental and Implant Center) about any health conditions you have been diagnosed with. The dentist will know the measures to take to limit the effect the diseases may have on your oral health.


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