Is your oral health affecting your overall health and wellness?
What is the Oral Wellness Evaluation? It is a full assessment of your mouth that will identify how your overall health is being affected by your teeth and gums. If issues are apparent, we create a strategic plan to get your mouth in good shape! This will support your overall health and well being AND help to control or prevent medical conditions to which you are susceptible. You can work with your existing dental provider to implement the care plan initiated through the Oral Wellness Evaluation. Your mouth will NO LONGER BE A WILDCARD! Get on your way to healthier you.
The assessment is provided by a Registered Dental Hygienist who has special focus on the oral systemic connection. Not all dental providers are keen with linking the overall health with the dental disease that they diagnose. For example, did you know that we can identify the EXACT type of inflammatory microbes that are present in the mouth and identify what risks they may pose on overall health? It’s called Salivary Testing and it’s easy to do! Increasing evidence supports the importance of the mouth/body link and if the mouth isn’t taken into account in treating patients, there is a missed opportunity to help patients from a “whole body” perspective!
Can you say with 100% certainty that you know your oral health/disease is not initiating or exacerbating a medical condition like the ones listed below? Find out how specific microbes might be affecting or could have affect on your oral and overall health. Just like examining your lifestyle, diet and other aspects of your health, it is equally if not more important to evaluate your dental health which has a direct affect on your overall health in many ways.
Did you know…
80% of adults over the age of 35 have Periodontal Disease of the mouth.
Most people are unaware OR mistaken about the status of their oral health.
Periodontal disease is not just a dental disease, it is a medical disease.
Oral disease contributes to triggering or exacerbating a number of common medical conditions.
Identifying and addressing an underlying dental problem can improve the health of the body.
The oral systemic link is crucial in managing, treating, and preventing many health problems.
Some of the common conditions that an unhealthy oral cavity can influence include:
Diabetes and insulin resistance or “pre-diabetic” condition
Cardiovascular disease- heart disease, vascular disease, stroke
Respiratory conditions
Autoimmune disorders
Obesity
Gut health
Pregnancy or attempting to get pregnant
Inflammatory conditions
Cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease
Poor sleep behaviors
Contact us to book a consult today! See if the Oral Wellness Evaluation could help you be in the driver’s seat with your health!
Research on the Oral-Systemic Link.. primary care providers want to be in the know to serve their patients better!
Oral Health: An Essential Component of Primary Care
Periodontal Disease and Systemic Conditions: A Bidirectional Relationship
This study explores the finding that oral health may be indicative of systemic health. The gap between allopathic medicine and dental medicine is quickly closing, due to significant findings supporting the association between periodontal disease and systemic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and osteoporosis.
- Most researchers have found statistically significant connections between systemic conditions and moderate to severe periodontal disease.
- Simple oral healthcare tasks, such as brushing and flossing, and limiting other risk factors, such as smoking, may assist in initially decreasing periodontal pockets and periodontal bacterial flora, consequently decreasing the likelihood of the progression of periodontal disease in causing detrimental systemic diseases
Heart Attacks & Strokes
High-Risk Periodontal Pathogens Contribute to the Pathogenesis of Atherosclerosis
This peer-reviewed study clearly states, “Periodontal disease due to high risk pathogens must be considered a contributory cause of arterial disease.”
- Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death and disability in North America.
- Periodontal disease is medical condition that only dentists and hygienists can diagnose and treat.
https://pmj.bmj.com/content/93/1098/215
Bacterial Signatures in Thrombus Aspirates of Patients with Myocardial Infarction
This paper aimed to measure bacterial DNA in thrombus aspirates of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and to check for a possible association between bacteria findings and oral pathology in the same cohort.
The article concluded that dental infection and oral bacteria, especially viridans streptococci, may be associated with the development of acute coronary thrombosis.
Periodontitis and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease
This paper was to provide health professionals, especially cardiologists and periodontists, a better understanding of the link between atherosclerotic CVD and periodontitis and, based on current information, an approach to reducing the risk for primary and secondary atherosclerotic CVD events in patients with periodontitis.
https://www.oravital.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CARDIOVASCULAR_DISEASE_GUM_DISEASE.pdf
Detection of Oral Bacteria in Cardiovascular Specimens
Oral bacteria, including cariogenic and periodontal pathogens, are thought to be etiological factors in the development of cardiovascular diseases. To define this relationship, the authors of this paper published in Oral Microbiology and Immunology, analyzed the distribution of oral bacterial species in cardiovascular specimens.
The conclusion was that the research suggests that specific oral bacterial species, such as S. mutans and A. actinomycetemcomitans, are related to bacteremia and may be etiologic factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases.
Quantitative Detection of Periodontopathic Bacteria in Atherosclerotic Plaques from Coronary Arteries
Oral pathogens, including periodontopathic bacteria, are thought to be aetiological factors in the development of cardiovascular disease. In this study, published in The Journal of Medical Microbiology, the presence of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, periodonticuma simiae group, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens and Tannerella forsythia in atheromatous plaques from coronary arteries was determined by real-time PCR.
A significant number of periodontopathic bacterial DNA species in atherosclerotic tissue samples from patients with periodontitis suggests that the presence of these micro-organisms in coronary lesions is not coincidental and that they may in fact contribute to the development of vascular diseases.
Cancer
Oral Pathogen Found in Pancreatic Cancer Tissue
A recent study in the medical journal Oncotarget revealed that a prominent oral pathogen (Fusobacterium nucleatum) was detected in cancerous pancreatic tissue. The presence of this pathogen was significantly associated with a worse prognosis for survival:
- Highly aggressive, pancreatic cancer kills 94% of its victims within 5 years of diagnosis
- Pancreatic Cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4466679/
Periodontal Disease and Breast Cancer: Prospective Cohort Study of Postmenopausal Women
The American Association for Cancer Research published the findings of a Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, a prospective cohort of postmenopausal women, in which 73,737 women without previous breast cancer was examined after mean follow-up of 6.7 years. Incident, primary, invasive breast tumors were verified by physician adjudication. Periodontal disease was by self-report.
Periodontal disease, a common chronic inflammatory disorder, was associated with increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, particularly among former smokers who quit in the past 20 years. Understanding a possible role of the oral microbiome in breast carcinogenesis could impact prevention.
https://www.oravital.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Periodontal-Disease-Breast-Cancer.pdf
Periodontal Pathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium Nucleatum Promote Tumor Progression in an Oral-Specific Chemical Carcinogenesis Model
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a lethal disease whose incidence is increasing. Epidemiological studies demonstrate an association between periodontitis and oral cancer. Here, utilizing a newly-established murine model of periodontitis-associated oral tumorigenesis, the authors report that chronic bacterial infection promotes OSCC. Their results indicate that periodontal pathogens P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum stimulate tumorigenesis via direct interaction with oral epithelial cells through Toll-like receptors. Furthermore, oral pathogens stimulate human OSCC proliferation and induce expression of key molecules implicated in tumorigenesis.
These findings represent the first demonstration of a mechanistic role for oral bacteria in chemically induced OSCC tumorigenesis. These results are highly relevant for the design of effective prevention and treatment strategies for OSCC.
Prolonged and Repetitive Exposure to Porphyromonas Gingivalis Increases Aggressiveness of Oral Cancer Cells by Promoting Acquisition of Cancer Stem Cell Properties
Periodontitis is the most common chronic inflammatory condition occurring in the human oral cavity, but our knowledge on its contribution to oral cancer is rather limited. To define crosstalk between chronic periodontitis and oral cancer, we investigated whether Porphyromonas gingivalis, a major pathogen of chronic periodontitis, plays a role in oral cancer progression.
This is the first report demonstrating that P. gingivalis can increase the aggressiveness of oral cancer.
Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s Disease – a Neurospirochetosis: Analysis of the Evidence Following Koch’s and Hill’s Criteria
It is established that chronic spirochetal infection can cause slowly progressive dementia, brain atrophy and amyloid deposition in late neurosyphilis. Recently it has been suggested that various types of spirochetes, in an analogous way to Treponema pallidum, could cause dementia and may be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease.
When neutral techniques recognizing all types of spirochetes were used, or the highly prevalent periodontal pathogen Treponemas were analyzed, spirochetes were observed in the brain in more than 90% of AD cases.
Preterm Birth
Relationship between Periodontal Diseases and Preterm Birth: Recent Epidemiological and Biological Data
The purpose of this review, published in The Journal of Pregnancy, is to present the principal results of epidemiological, biological, and interventional studies on the link between periodontal diseases and preterm birth. The conclusions of this work underline the importance for the physician/obstetrician to identify women at risk for preterm birth and to address these patients to dentist for periodontal examination and treatment to limit adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The conclusions states: Periodontal diseases appear to be a potential risk factor for preterm birth. As well as other modifiable risk factors, these diseases must be taken in charge. Cooperation between obstetricians or general practitioners and periodontists should be developed. The promotion of the early detection and treatments of periodontal disease in young women before and during pregnancy will be beneficial especially for women at risk.
Transmission of an Uncultivated Bergeyella Strain from the Oral Cavity to Amniotic Fluid in a Case of Preterm Birth
Intrauterine infection is a recognized cause of preterm birth. The infectious organisms are believed to originate primarily from the vaginal tract and secondarily from other parts of the body. It is plausible that microbes in the oral cavity can be transmitted to the pregnant uterus.
In this study, published in The Journal of Clinical Microbiology, amniotic fluids of 34 pregnant women were examined by PCR. In one instance, the Bergeyella strain identified in the patient’s intrauterine infection originated from the oral cavity. Â This study sheds new light on the implication of oral bacteria in preterm birth.
Diabetes
The association between oral health and systemic health is bidirectional; systemic illnesses, especially metabolic disorders, affect oral health. Studies have provided evidence that control of periodontal infection has an impact on improvement of glycemic control evidenced by a decrease in demand for insulin and decreased hemoglobin A-1c levels. The evidence reviewed supports viewing the relationship between diabetes and periodontal diseases as bidirectional.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3114608/
Gut Health and Microbiome
Oral bacteria spreading through the body have been associated with a number of systemic diseases. The gut is no exception. Porphyromonas gingivalis, which creates dysbiosis in the subgingival microbiota and immune defense, may also cause dysregulation in the gut.The fact that “chronic” periodontitis may affect the gut microbiota could imply that consideration might in the future be given to a coordinated approach to the treatment of periodontitis and gastrointestinal disease.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6427756/
Female Hormonal Health
Dental plaque is the primary etiologic factor for the periodontal diseases. The susceptibility of the host can be modified by various systemic factors with hormones level being one. The periodontium is influenced by variation in sex steroid hormones of female during different phases of their life time.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4630749/
Obesity
Obesity appears to participate in the multifactorial phenomenon of causality of periodontitis through the increased production of reactive oxygen species. Adipose tissue actively secretes a variety of cytokines and hormones that are involved in inflammatory processes that can influence periodontal disease.
Obesity puts clients at risk for a higher incidence of certain conditions, many of which are affected by the disease or health of the oral cavity.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3110475/
Oral disease and microbiome
Of the two different cohabiting groups of bacteria found in the salivary microbiota, a greater relative abundance of group I bacteria, which include Prevotella and Veillonella species, was associated with poor oral health, high body mass index, and old age. These findings suggest that the salivary microbiota reflects oral and systemic conditions.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28637979/
The mouth constitutes an entry point to the respiratory and digestive systems, and it is highly vascularized, resulting in potential implications of the oral microbiome in other systemic diseases. Indeed, a growing number of studies have shown associations between other diseases and changes in the oral microbiome.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7074908/