How Your Oral Health Affects Your Overall Health

At Chattanooga Dental Studio, we believe a healthy smile is key to a happy life – and it turns out, the impact goes beyond just your mouth. Oral health plays a critical role in overall health, impacting not only psychological well-being but also important elements of whole body health. As a leading dental practice serving the greater Chattanooga area, the dentists at Chattanooga Dental Studio have seen this time and time again. Let’s dive into why oral health is a major factor in overall health.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A HEALTHY SMILE

Oral health is important for its own sake, as it impacts the health, function, and appearance of your mouth and smile. Your smile is the first thing people notice about you, and having a beautiful, healthy smile you feel proud to show off is a major boost to confidence, self-esteem, and even happiness in general. But the impacts of oral health go beyond psychology.

Without proper oral hygiene and dental care, bacteria can form a sticky biofilm called plaque on the teeth, eventually leading to dental decay and infecting the gums, causing gum disease. While this is bad news for teeth, it also has repercussions throughout the body. New research has found that bacterial gum infection, in addition to inflaming the gums, can cause widespread, systemic inflammation all over the body. This inflammation can contribute to the formation of atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries, which increases your risk for a variety of cardiovascular problems including heart attack and stroke. What’s more, scientists have found that the same strains of bacteria that infect the gums can also infect the arteries and muscles surrounding the heart: which means gum disease can have wide-ranging impacts throughout the body.

CONTACT YOUR CHATTANOOGA, TN DENTAL & ORTHODONTIC EXPERT

Maintaining proper oral health will help preserve not only a healthy smile, but also long-term, whole-body health. And at Chattanooga Dental Studio, we’re here to help make the process of maintaining proper oral health easy. Contact us today to learn more about our treatments and how we can help you maintain a healthy smile, a healthy mouth, and proper overall health throughout your life. We can’t wait to hear from you!

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