Maintaining a consistent routine of brushing twice a day serving as a primary defense against systemic health issues linked to oral bacteria.<\/p>\n
October in Dental Hygiene Month. Registered dental hygienist Jamie Hunt said the mouth acts as the entry point for bacteria that can travel to other vital systems. Hunt said specific microorganisms associated with certain diseases are frequently present in the mouths of patients with poor oral hygiene.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mouth is the gateway to the body,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThe same bacteria that\u2019s found in cardiovascular disease is also found in your mouth. So there\u2019s a huge link between heart health and mouth health, dental hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunt said patients managing diabetes face additional complications because elevated blood sugar levels directly hinder the body\u2019s ability to repair oral tissues. This biological connection often results in a cycle where poor systemic health and advanced periodontal disease exacerbate one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime your sugar is elevated you don\u2019t heal as well,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cSo if your tissue in your mouth isn\u2019t as healthy, it\u2019s not going to heal as well with your sugar being raised and it just creates a vicious cycle, and we see a lot of people with diabetes who have really bad periodontal disease and a lot of it has to do with that just the overall health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunt said parents should establish preventative habits early, including a transition to dental office visits by age three. While clinical guidelines suggest earlier checkups, Hunt said most children reach the developmental maturity to follow directions and sit in a dental chair at that age.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as the number one thing child, parents can do aside from brushing, no bottle to bed, no milk at night, nothing after you\u2019ve brushed their teeth at night except water,\u201d Hunt said.<\/p>\n
Hunt said the frequent consumption of soft drinks such as Mountain Dew contributes significantly to enamel erosion. Hunt said constant sipping prevents the mouth from getting back to a healthy baseline.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only is it loaded with sugar which is going to eat your enamel, it\u2019s loaded with acid,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cThe minerals in your saliva are going to remineralize your enamel but if you\u2019re sipping on that all day they don\u2019t have the opportunity to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hunt said consumers selecting toothpaste should look for the American Dental Association seal of approval and the inclusion of fluoride rather than focusing on shelf placement or marketing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maintaining a consistent routine of brushing twice a day serving as a primary defense against systemic health issues…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":931009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137],"class_list":["post-931008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}