Diseases Your Dentist Can Detect

The condition of your mouth may play a big role in your overall health!  A dentist can detect many possible diseases during an oral exam.  Here are a few of the conditions that may be directly related to dental problems:

Heart Disease and Diabetes:
     Inflamed, swollen gums and loose teeth can be indicators of these serious diseases.  Periodontal disease has been directly linked to heart attacks, which can occur when bacteria from infected or inflamed gums travels into the bloodstream. 

Osteoporosis
     Receeding gums, loose teeth and bone loss make this disease easily detected by your dentist when examining your teeth.

Dimentia
     When a dentist examines the elderly, one of the first signs he may notice is poor oral hygiene. In early dimentia, one of the first signs a person may show is neglect of personal and oral hygiene, particularly when someone has previously taken good care of their teeth. 

Eating Disorders: Bulimia, Anorexia
      Moderate to severe acid erosion, particularly in a young person, may indicate one of these disorders.  This is caused by stomach acid coming in to repeated contact with the teeth, which is due to induced vomiting. Over time, the acid erodes the enamel of the teeth.

 (GERD) Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease
     This is also caused by acid erosion but is more common in older people, and affects the back molars. This is a condition that sneaks up on you in your sleep, that is, stomach acid backs up into your esophagus and sometimes into the mouth during sleep, affecting your back teeth.

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