Your Mouth Is The Gateway To Your Body

That may sound like something you’d hear only from your dentist, but it’s the truth. We may think of our dental health as separate from our overall health, but we do so at our peril. The state of our mouth, in fact, influences the health of the rest of the body.

The Mouth Body Connection

If you have an infection in your gums or teeth, that can cause the gums to be inflamed. Left untreated, this inflammation can lead to decay and result in severe gum disease.

While that sounds like bad news for our teeth and gums, it can get even worse. Gum disease and heart disease are related, although the reasons are not fully understood. The theory is that inflammation in the mouth causes inflammation in the blood vessels, raising blood pressure and leading to heart attack or stroke. In fact, the bacteria found in dental infections have been found in the hearts of people with heart disease.

Poor dental health can also affect other aspects of our health: it often leads to self-esteem problems, which can also lead to social anxiety and depression.

At Pure North, we have seen a 40 per cent improvement in anxiety, depression, headaches and memory loss after completing dental treatment.

One thing is clear — the body and mouth are not separate. Keeping your teeth (minus the mercury) and gums healthy can help keep the rest of you healthy.