Healthy mouths, healthier bodies – is there a link?

Do your body a favour. Go to the dentist. Research shows there may be a link between oral disease and other health problems such as diabetes, respiratory disease, heart disease, and stroke, as well as premature and low-birth-weight babies. Although scientists are only just beginning to understand this link, dentists are encouraging people to make oral health care a regular part of a healthy lifestyle. If you are a parent of infants or small children, you are encouraged to start teaching your children about good oral health as early as possible, and have them assessed by a dentist within 6 months of the eruption of the first tooth or by one year of age.

Good health requires good nutrition, but if you don't have strong teeth and healthy gums, your ability to eat properly is diminished. Your choice of foods becomes restricted, and you may have difficulties getting all the nutrients you need.

And it only makes sense that chronic infections in the mouth, as are common with people with gingivitis or gum disease, put strain on the body's immune system.

To help people learn more about preventing oral disease, the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) urges Canadians to talk to their dentist during National Oral Health Month, which occurs every year in April.

Special thanks to the Canadian Dental Association for their help with this article.

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