How Does Gum Disease Affect the Heart?
Dental Hygienist Cindy Yeager explains the correlation between gum disease and heart disease. If gum disease progresses in the mouth, Cindy discusses why you will need to have periodontal treatment.
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The gum disease, gingivitis is a bacterial infection that invades the gums. It slips between the gums, pockets around the teeth. It causes bad breath, bleeding gums, inflammation. That bacteria, if it sits there for a very long time, it also invades the periodontal ligament or the periodontal which houses the teeth. It’s the bone.
Basically, then you are into the next stage of gum disease, which is Periodontitis. That’s when the teeth become loose. You have extremely bad breath. You truly need to see a periodontist to treat that disease.
In order to help gum disease, the best thing to do is to remove that bacteria with a dental cleaning or a deep cleaning. We call it Root Planing and Curettage.
If that plaque stays inside of the pockets in the gums, that also goes through your whole system in your body. It affects the heart. That plaque that is in your mouth also is plaque that travels through your bloodstream. That’s the correlation between gum disease and heart disease.
Tags: bleeding gums, curettage, gum desease, gum desease affecting the heart, heart, heart desease, inflammation, plaque
