It’s Not Just Cavities: The Shocking Link Between Oral Health and Whole-Body Disease

Why Oral Health Affects the Whole Body 0:00

What is the real cost of not brushing your teeth? Now, most of us grew up in a home where our mom said, brush your teeth, brush your teeth. They nagged us. I know as a mom, I did the same many, many times. Why? Is it all just about cavities? Well, the answer is no. Not brushing your teeth may seem like something real easy just to let slide. We may worry a little bit about our bad breath, but think that it stops there. It doesn't stop there because your mouth is connected to the rest of you. We're connected head to toe and things that are going on in your mouth are going to affect the rest of you greatly.

So I'll always remember the story of a woman named Kim. Really interesting situation. She had to stop working because she felt so In fact, the big thing that was really influencing her was she had nonstop diarrhea. She literally couldn't work because she couldn't stray far from a bathroom. And she was embarrassed to tell us about this, but I could tell something was really going on. Her hair was thinning.

Kim's Gut Issues and Hidden Dental Infections 1:01

She was just so slender. She said she lost about 15 pounds and she didn't have the 15 pounds to lose. She couldn't eat anything. She said it didn't matter what she ate. It would just go right through her. So she was at the dental office because she'd been to every other doctor by now and everybody had tried all sorts of things, but nothing had really made a significant difference. So as we started looking at Kim, I identified a few things that could contribute to her health issues. She had some old mercury fillings in her mouth that were leaking.

They actually had cavities around them. They needed to be replaced. She actually had a couple of failing root canal teeth as well with large infections at the end of them. They didn't hurt. They usually don't. So she had no idea it was happening. And she had some issues with the way her teeth were fitting together. Not a lot of room in her mouth for air. So she wasn't sleeping well, which means she wasn't regenerating. Nothing was able to really snap back and get better. So what did we do? Well, we started one by one taking care of issues that we found.

We replaced the old mercury fillings, took them out safely and replaced them. We took out the failing root canal teeth and replaced those as well. And one day when I was visiting with Kim, first of all, just looking at her, I could tell that things were significantly better. She just her face was plumped out and her hair was thicker and She had a smile for the first time in a while. And as I started talking with her, I just, you know, casually mentioned, how are things going with, you know, your gut issues and all that you were struggling with before?

And she stopped and she sat there for a minute and she looked at me and she said, I actually had forgotten to pay attention to that.

Treating the Mouth to Improve Overall Health 2:37

She said, when I first came, I couldn't keep anything in. And I said, I know, I remember. I have it down here in our notes. She said, I don't have any problems at all now. Why is that? I didn't do anything differently for my gut. I said, it's because everything that was going on in your mouth was affecting the way everything else was working. Her body was working so hard to deal with the toxins and infection and inflammation. It was throwing her immune system completely out of whack. It wasn't able to keep her well anymore.

So dealing with this helped her deal with other things as well. And there's a huge mouth-gut connection. Your mouth is actually the starting point of your digestive tract. So if you're not healthy here, there's no way you're going to be healthy elsewhere in that digestive system. So it helped all that was going on in the digestive tract and everything that was functioning or malfunctioning at the time because she took care of the infection and bacteria in the mouth. There's an enormous connection here.

So absolutely gum health, gut health, immune system issues, but also your mom wasn't completely wrong. If you don't brush your teeth, you do get cavities. And what does that lead to? Well, that leads to tooth loss. And tooth loss isn't just a, oh no, I have a missing tooth. It really contributes to a change in your quality of life. People don't realize that eating and chewing and talking and all the things that happen in the mouths are actually very important in how much we enjoy life, how we enjoy going out with friends or family and eating a meal.

Cavities, Tooth Loss, and Quality of Life 4:08

When you lose that ability, you lose a lot. So it's not just about not getting a cavity or not losing a tooth. It's actually about not losing the quality of life that you enjoy right now, or perhaps wanting to improve that quality of life. So what can you do at home? Well, you can listen to your mom. You can keep brushing your teeth like you should and make sure you're using both a soft bristle toothbrush, clean floss that doesn't create other issues, a tooth care product that has hydroxyapatite in it, and hopefully something called protectin as well, which helps with gum health and gut health and just microbiome health.

and that you really take time to make sure you're cleaning it off every day. The other one that often isn't thought about is tongue cleaning, tongue scraping. That's really important to help balance the bacteria in the body and the mouth as well. So listen to your mom, make sure you're brushing your teeth, but it's not just to avoid cavities. It's to make sure that your gut is going to stay healthy. You're going to be able to digest like you should. To make sure that your immune system is going to stay strong.

That it won't have an insult here that affects every other thing that's going on.

At-Home Oral Care Tips and Final Advice 5:14

Your gums can stay healthy so they don't share those bugs with other parts of the body. And so you can keep your teeth so you can keep chewing and smiling and living the life that you love. These are all so important and honestly, a couple of minutes a day. You can do this. You can brush your teeth. You can keep them clean. And now with these new techniques and new products, it's easier than ever. So make sure to check out all the products at livingwellofdrmichelle.com. Make sure to subscribe because this is the information I love to share.

Make sure you're on here checking it out. I just want to help you stay well.