Should Your Oral Healthcare Routine Change if You Have a Chronic Illness?

Posted on 8/20/2019 by Neil Starr DDS PC

Maintaining good oral health is important not only for your mouth, but also for your overall body. This is because research has linked many chronic illnesses to poor oral health.

The opposite is also true in that once you have one of these conditions, you may need to take better care of your oral hygiene. With this in mind, here are some of the chronic health conditions that you may have that should change your oral healthcare routine.

Diabetes

Although diabetes is manageable, it can wreak havoc on your mouth, nonetheless. It does this by producing less saliva so your mouth feels very dry. When this happens, your teeth are no longer properly protected from cavities.

Diabetes also makes you more likely to get infections. In your mouth this could result to gum disease where your gums grow inflamed and start bleeding. Left untreated, this will cause your blood sugar to rise.

Cancer

Unfortunately, over one-third of cancer patients have some type of problem with their mouth, such as sores, dryness, sensitivity, or jaw pain. This is because cancer treatment weakens your immune system. The treatment also has side effects that affect your mouth.

STDs

Many people don't realize that STDs like HIV, HPV, herpes, gonorrhea, and syphilis affect your mouth. These will cause sores in your mouth and throat. Sometimes these sores will go away, even when left untreated, but at other times you'll need our help in getting rid of them.

Osteoporosis

While you may realize that osteoporosis weakens your bones, you may not realize that this same thing can also happen to your teeth. This means your teeth may become so weak they break. Additionally, some of the medications that are used to treat osteoporosis can also cause problems with your jaw bone.

If you have any of these chronic illnesses, you not only need to tell us about them, but you should also make sure you schedule routine visits with our office. To do so, simply pick up your phone and give us a call today.

Neil L. Starr, DDS, PC

Washington Office

1234 19th St NW #306
Washington, DC 20036

(202) 293-7177

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