November is Diabetes Awareness month so this blog post is about diabetes and your oral health. Diabetes affects over 25 million Americans. This disease can cause problems with your eyes, nerves, kidneys, heart and other parts of your body. Diabetes can also affect your teeth and gums. Oral health problems related to diabetes are gum disease, thrush and slower healing after oral surgery.
Gum (periodontal) disease is when the tissues that hold your teeth in place become infected. If the infection progresses to the severe state, the bone is destroyed and the infected teeth have to be removed. In young adults, if someone has diabetes, they are about twice as likely to have active gum disease. In older adults who have diabetes, active gum disease and infection is very common. Diabetics with poor sugar control are more likely to lose teeth due to gum disease than diabetics who have their sugar under control. Some studies suggest that treating active gum disease may help improve blood sugar control, thus improving the overall health of the diabetic patient.
The dentists and hygienists at Clearwater Dental Associates routinely check for signs of active gum disease and we recommend dental treatment to treat the infected areas so the overall health of our diabetic patients can improve.
Another oral health problem related to diabetes is thrush. Thrush is a fungal infection that occurs more often in people with diabetes. In the mouth, thrush looks like white and red patches that may be sore or look like small ulcers. Thrush may make your tongue feel like it is burning thus making chewing and swallowing uncomfortable. Fortunately, there are medicines that can cure thrush within a relatively short period of time.
If you are diabetic it may take your body longer to heal after having any type of oral surgery. This would include having a tooth pulled. It is important to discuss your diabetes with your dentist before doing any type of oral surgery.
Patients with diabetes should be very pro-active with their dental care. They should have regular dental cleanings and exams which would include evaluation of their periodontal (gum) health. If you are diabetic and you have been told that you have active areas of gum disease or infection it is very important to treat these areas and get them to healthier, non infection state.
