What do your teeth say about you?

Dentistry- not exactly the sexiest topic in the world.  NOT in the Google Zeitgeist report for 2010, I looked.  It has not had much coverage in the health and wellness Forums, blogs and websites, I looked up few, but then again, I only have so much time…Until today, that is.

WellBeing magazine, you ought to be congratulated for bringing to the forefront what is a very important, but often ignored, part of one’s health and wellbeing!

As a dentist it is my duty to help people improve their oral health or help keep them healthy. I see some patients who are perfectly healthy and those who may have reached a point of no return, where loss of teeth is inevitable. My patients, however serious their dental problems, have already made the often difficult decision to see someone about their condition. Whether they are treated or not, whether they get better quickly or not, will depend on many things. However, by seeking my opinion, by allowing me to diagnose them, these people have also allowed themselves to learn about their condition, to learn about some fundamental principles of oral diseases and to understand how to get back to being healthy and how to stay healthy.

As a dentist, I see only a small portion of the community. As a member of the community, however, as a commuter on trains, shopper in stores and patron at cafes, I see a much larger number of people from a broader cross-section of our society. What I see are a large number of people who are seemingly unaware or unaffected by their obvious dental disease, such as:

• Missing teeth
• Puffy, red gums
• Visible tartar build up on teeth
• Teeth worn down from grinding or acid erosion
• “Black triangles” (gaps) between teeth, etc.

This list is not exhaustive, but these are only the things that are easy to SEE just by passing a stranger in the street or ordering a coffee. As a snapshot of what dental disease looks like to a lay person, this list could include what we can SMELL if we get closer to people suffering from dental problems. If we really wanted to get into detail and illustrate dental disease even better, we could include what people with dental problems FEEL, smell or TASTE in their own mouths, every day.

Most of these signs and symptoms of dental disease are, what I call “silent” signs, ie. they are not necessarily associated with pain. In the absence of pain, most people assume they don’t need to seek professional dental help. Much like most people assume they are healthy and don’t need to see their GP every six months to be told that.

Your oral cavity is NOT like the rest of your body. It is small, not very visible or accessible for self diagnosis and even when pain or minor symptoms or signs do come up, it is difficult to tell if the problem is related to the lips and cheeks, muscles and joints or teeth and gums.

Unlike medical conditions, which can be minor and seasonal, or more devastating and ‘hit’ even the healthiest people, out of the blue, dental disease is pretty PREDICTABLE and completely PREVENTABLE. It is all in your RISK PROFILE (I will talk about this in more depth in one of my future blogs, as it is a topic in itself).  Some factors which may put you at a higher risks may be:

• any existing or recently diagnosed medical conditions (especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease)
• medication (e.g blood pressure lowering medication, antidepressants)
• increased physical activity (e.g marathon training)
• some dietary habits
• poor oral hygiene habits
• smoking habit
• alcohol abuse.

Your mouth, as a very unique environment, demands great care. It is, after all “the portal to your body” and whatever happens in this inherently “dirty” environment, affects the rest of your body! More and more studies are starting to show without any doubt that people with cardiac disease, diabetes, cancer, recover better in the absence of oral disease. The link may even be deeper than that, chronic oral infections (whether it be gum disease or tooth decay) may actually be an even bigger piece in the puzzle of these diseases.

There is no avoiding the need for dental professionals. Depending on your risk, you may need to see them twice or four times per year, but you must see them. What is more, there are many reasons to start developing a trusting, long term relationship with a dental team.

Talk to your dental team. Discuss your potential risk factors. Let them really get to know you so they can establish your “baseline”, what is “normal” for you. Then go and see them as often as your risk profile requires. You will soon learn a lot about oral disease and you may even manage to lower your risk. Alternatively, your dental team will be able to spot any deterioration in your condition and investigate why your risk is suddenly higher (this occasionally even alerts our hygienist to recommend a medical examination with the GP).

Learning about your oral health and seeing a dental professional is an important part of your road to perfect health. Education and a trusting relationship with your dental team make all the difference. Dentistry, that not-so-sexy word, then becomes evocative of a certain cleanliness and confidence, a sense of ownership of your own health and only encouragement and support from those trained to look after you.

So, next time you serve a customer, sit next to someone on a train or just smile at a stranger passing by, think about what they just saw. What do your teeth say about you?

Thank you for reading this blog. Please let me know what you think and what burning dental questions you would like me to cover in my future blogs.

For more on dentistry, on running a small business and for musings on the future of healthcare, please see my blog: http://thedentistat70pittstreet.wordpress.com/