Archive for August, 2011

Did you know that your oral health and overall physical health are intimately connected? Not many people do. The rise of technology and advancements in the field made the twentieth century an exciting time for the medical community, but the kind of scientific thinking that made those great strides possible also endowed us with a severe handicap: the idea the body is made up of parts which can be addressed and treated separately. Think about it for a minute. Common sense should tell us that everything in our bodies is connected, yet we don’t object on that basis when our doctors prescribe pain pills for migraine instead of dealing with the underlying cause of the problem, which could be stress, toxicity- or a misaligned jaw. The idea of specialization is just too engrained in our thinking, but that’s beginning to change. Dallas cosmetic and restorative dentists like Dr. Sowell are challenging that thought pattern by treating their patients from a more holistic approach. They know that oral issues can deeply effect your overall health- and they’ve got scientific fact to back them up.

Health and The State of Your Mouth

There’s a reason why horse dealers used to check a horse’s teeth before committing to buy. The state of your mouth says a lot about your overall health- and what problems you may need to look out for in the future. Did you know that over 30 percent of the population is genetically predisposed to chronic gum disease no matter how good their oral regimen is? Pubescent children, women who are pregnant or undergoing menopause are also at high risk.  There’s even a term doctor’s use called “pregnancy gingivitis.” Mouthwash labels claiming to fight gum disease make it sound pretty innocuous, but without treatment and care from a certified Dallas restorative dentist, chronic gum disease can result in your later years being plagued with tooth loss, facial deformation as the jawbone loses mass and cheek muscles sag, nerve and joint pain, difficulty chewing, and chronic migraines. Gingivitis has also been medically linked to heart disease, diabetes, pneumonia, and stroke. Pretty scary right? Don’t let the specialization trap get you. Proper treatment can mitigate and even reverse damage, giving you years of improved health, and a beautiful, lasting smile.