Mouth Body Connection
Chronic or acute periodontal infection and inflammation often leads to tooth loss, but more importantly, it may lead to many serious overall health problems, including the recently discovered link to Pancreatic Cancer and Alzheimer's.
A growing number of research studies, including a report by the U. S. Surgeon General, have found links between chronic periodontal disease and health problems such as diabetes, heart and lung disease, stroke, and even low birth weight babies.
Heart Disease
Pancreatic Cancer
Alzheimer’s
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Diabetes
Pre-Term, low birth-weight infants
Stroke
Pulmonary Disease
Periodontal Disease = Bacterial Infection resulting in an Inflammatory Disease
Microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, mold, fungus, viruses) are present everywhere in life. These ‘bugs’ make their way into our mouths and then attempt to survive. They secrete a sticky film which allows them to adhere to tissue and tooth surfaces. They may also have a protective shield or capsule which makes them more difficult to kill. Once they have an anchor point in the mouth, they begin to reproduce. The colony of organisms grows larger and stronger over time. The mass of the colony protects the deeper organisms from our bodies defenses. The deeper sites have less oxygen then the surface of the colony. This change in oxygen concentration allows more aggressive bacteria to proliferate at the deep sites and accelerates the tissue invasion. These pathogenic bacteria have many weapons which allow them to penetrate the gum tissue (collagenase, cilia, filaments). Once your body recognizes the bacterial infection of the gums, your defenses are switched-on. This happens through a complex molecular signal system which releases messengers throughout the body resulting in the inflammatory response. C-reactive Protien (CRP) is one those signals which is elevated during an inflammatory event. The function of CRP is to aid in the breakdown of dead or dying cells (human and bacterial cells). An elevated CRP level can provide support for the presence of an inflammatory disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica or giant-cell arteritis.