Look After Your Teeth and They’ll Look After You

Doing people (or things) good turns can repay itself many times over. Keeping your teeth healthy – in particular avoiding periodontitis – is one of those good deeds that can pay off big. It’s now known that periodontitis is much more than a local infection of the gums; it can cause changes elsewhere in the body.

A good example of this is diabetes. Diabetes increases the likelihood of infectious processes in the body, and thus predisposes to periodontitis. And periodontitis makes diabetes worse. (Of course, any infection makes diabetes worse, but one might have thought that periodontal disease was less likely to do so.)

Chronic inflammation anywhere in the body can lead to raised levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as substances called cytokines, which can themselves cause increased insulin resistance, and hence diabetes. So keep those teeth healthy. They will look nice, help you to chew your food well, and prevent halitosis. . . and help make your dentist rich.