Why Dental Care Matters More Now Than Ever
Now that visiting your dentist for a teeth cleaning in Powell is an option for patients, our team at Frontier Family Dental hopes that you don’t forget the importance of regular exams and cleanings. Even as COVID-19 has changed many of our views on the importance of eating out, grabbing a drink, or heading to the movies, the pandemic shouldn’t change how you feel about the importance of receiving regular dental care.
Dr. Williams understands that many patients may feel nervous or uncertain regarding their safety when visiting a dentist’s office for a teeth cleaning in Powell or for any other type of dental care treatment. First, let us assure you that the safety of our patients and staff will always remain our top priority. We’ve implemented all recommended safety precautions and have taken additional steps to ensure that visiting our office remains a safe and rewarding experience.
Second, now is not the time to avoid visiting the dentist. As we’ve covered before in our blog, a connection exists between our oral and overall health. Decades worth of research show that patients who experience tooth decay, gum disease, and tooth loss have a higher risk for developing a range of chronic health problems that include heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and dementia.
At the same time, research has also discovered that the coronavirus disproportionately impacts people with preexisting conditions, often with far stronger and potentially more deadly cases of the infection. By neglecting your oral health, you may inadvertently also increase your risk for experiencing a worse case of COVID should you contract the virus.
COVID & Your Oral Health
As we mentioned previously, oral health problems like gum disease have been linked to numerous chronic health problems. One of the reasons why gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis cause so much havoc with our health is the fact that gum disease itself is a chronic infection.
Cracks develop in unhealthy gum tissue as the result of poor oral hygiene habits that enable a buildup of harmful oral bacteria. The bacteria then enter the gum tissue where it causes inflammation to develop. That inflammation results in gum tissue feeling swollen, red, and to bleed easily, especially after brushing and flossing.
When left untreated, your mouth basically becomes an open wound. Not only does the constant battle your body wages with the infection weaken your immune system, it also increases your risk for the type of underlying conditions that make the coronavirus so dangerous.
The CDC has recently updated the list of health conditions that make a patient more likely to experience a severe outcome related to COVID-19 (severe cases include significant symptoms such as high fever, hospitalization, and death.)
The CDC’s list features diseases that include:
- Heart Disease
- Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Lower Immune Health
These are the exact types of systematic diseases that research has already associated with poor oral health. It doesn’t take much of a leap of logic to say that if your oral health deteriorates, your risk for a severe outcome should you contract the coronavirus only goes up.
Protecting Your Health
As the world comes to grip with the pandemic, now is not the time to ignore any part of your health that could lead to complications relating to COVID-19. While it might not seem like a teeth cleaning in Powell really matters or that this type of routine procedure is really worth the risk, it actually matters now more than ever.
A healthy body requires having a healthy mouth. One simply cannot exist without the other. The need for regular dental remains just as invaluable to protecting your oral and overall health. But now, a simple teeth cleaning could offer you so much more protection that it did before at a time when that protection really matters.
If you have any questions about the type of safety measures we’ve put into place to help protect the health of our patients and staff, we please ask that you call our office. A member of our team will happily explain to you what we’ve done, and how your health will always remain our top priority.