Heart disease, diabetes and immune problems: What is your mouth really trying to say?

FROM cardiac problems to premature babies, a dental specialist says gums give us important clues about our bodies

Check your mouth regularly for signs of gum disease which can cause or indicate health problems Check your mouth regularly for signs of gum disease, which can cause or indicate health problems [REX]

Most of us do not pay much attention to our mouths. We clean our teeth in the morning and evening – and some of us even use dental floss or interdental brushes to make sure that our teeth are clean – then rinse out and that’s about it.

However the most recent national dental health survey showed that 83 per cent of us have some form of gum disease (54 per cent of adults show some evidence of gingival disease, also known as bleeding gums), so there is obviously more we should be doing.

Gum disease is an infection caused by dental plaque bacteria that creep in underneath the gums. This infection slowly erodes away the foundations of the teeth. Then the gums start to shrink, the teeth get loose and wobbly and, if left untreated, we finally end up with abscesses and the loss of our teeth. But that’s not all.

Research has shown that gum infections have very harmful effects throughout our bodies. Did you know there is a major connection between gum disease and heart disease?

It is now known that the bacteria from gum disease can settle on the heart valves and cause permanent damage to them. Once this happens the heart will be unable to work efficiently and it becomes more susceptible to other infections.

Also, women who have active gum disease during their pregnancy are more likely to have pre-term and low birth weight babies as the body cannot concentrate all its resources on the baby while it has to continuously fight off an ongoing infection in the mouth.

We also know that those with uncontrolled diabetes are more susceptible to infections. If these people also have gum disease either it gets worse or the diabetes becomes more difficult to control, or both. So if the immune system has to struggle to control two problems at the same time to try to maintain health, it often fails to manage either.

 Visiting the dentist regularly is a sure way to get gum and teeth issues under control [GETTY]

Worryingly, rheumatoid arthritis has been linked with gum disease and more recently bowel cancer, asthma and even erectile dysfunction.

As more and more medical conditions are associated with this ongoing silent infection, it is clear that although gum disease does not cause pain, swelling or any other alarming symptoms in its early stages, the effects of the infection from the highly toxic bacteria lodged underneath the gums echo throughout our bodies and can cause or contribute significantly to other illnesses.

However gum disease may not be causing any of these conditions, it may be the other way around. If you have a medical problem that is compromising your immune system, the body becomes increasingly unable to control the dozens of species of bacteria that normally inhabit the mouth.

So if you suddenly develop the signs of gum disease, is it because there is something going on somewhere else in your body that has weakened your immune system’s ability to keep your mouth healthy?

If this is so, then your mouth is the mirror of what is going on inside your body. A healthy mouth may well be a reflection of a healthy immune system and a mouth with swollen, red or bleeding gums may well be telling us that all is not well somewhere else.

So if you have the signs of gum disease or you suddenly develop them for no apparent reason, you should take this very seriously and get it dealt with by a dentist, hygienist or periodontist (a dental specialist in managing gum conditions).

Treatment at a specialist periodontal clinic includes taking detailed gum measurements using a special probe to assess the depth of any pockets in the tissue around the neck of the teeth which can trap plaque bacteria. Procedures such as root planing involve cleaning around the roots to make sure that pockets of bacteria are removed.

Although these measures can help treat gum disease, you may also need to ask yourself when you last had a check-up at the doctor. When did you last have a blood test to check your sugar levels or have your blood pressure taken? Is there something else going on that the symptoms in your mouth are telling you?

Making sure that your immune system is in top condition gives your body the best chance of maintaining wellbeing and successfully dealing with other conditions and diseases if and when they occur.

So when you look in the mirror look in your mouth too and if you see the signs of gum disease then think about your general health and how this may be affecting you because it might just be reflecting some nasty little surprises that you can get under control before they become major problems.

If you have any of these symptoms ask your dentist for a periodontal (gum) examination. Indeed since early periodontal disease is symptomless you should have this checked out even if your mouth seems healthy.

Dental specialist Dr Peter Galgut says gums can tell you far more than just the state of your teeth. Take our gum disease quiz:

1. Do your gums bleed for no apparent reason?

2. When you brush your teeth, do you see some pink staining of the toothpaste when you spit it out into the basin?

3. Are your gums sore and swollen?

4. Do your teeth feel loose?

5. Are your teeth moving out of alignment?

6. Do you suffer from bouts of bad breath or bad tastes in your mouth?

7. Are your gums shrinking?

Additional reporting by TRACY POSNER

Peter Galgut is a clinical periodontist with a specialist practice in Golders Green, north west London. He is a world-renowned lecturer and research scientist in periodontology and twice winner of UK Dentist of the Year. If you would like more specialist advice from Dr Galgut, visit periodontal.co.uk