Print This Post

Related Dental Articles

• Control Type 2 Diabetes and Complications With Gum Care
  
• Patients With Diabetes May Lower Medical Costs Treating Gum Disease
  
• Deep Teeth Cleaning Help Avoid Gum Disease and Get White Smile
  
• Scientists Find Shared Genetic Link Between Dental Disease Periodontitis and Heart Attack
  
• Save Your Life - Visit Dentist
  

Share dental health! These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Situated on the first places of dangerous for life diseases, diabetes is considered able to harm your eyes, nerves, kidneys, heart and many other body systems. In the same time, it badly influences your gums and other mouth tissues. On the other hand, gum disease can show the first signs of diabetes. So, diabetes and gum disease are strongly connected.

Diabetes is a chronic disorder of glucose metabolism caused by inadequate production or use of insulin, a hormone produced in specialized cells in the pancreas that allows the body to use and store glucose.

As any other body cells, gums do not get the necessary quantity of glucose, that makes them bleed, turn red and swell. That’s why the diabetes produces gum disease and can be detected by them.

Thicker blood vessels, as a complication of diabetes, increase gum disease occurrence. Blood vessels do not deliver enough oxygen and nourishment to body tissues, including the mouth. Harmful wastes are removed more slowly and the risk of gum disease increases.

Diabetes causes periodontal disease if not treated. Lack of diabetes control may produce even teeth loss. Not controlling your glucose level increases the number of bacteria that is followed by severe inflammation.

Smoking is well known for its dangerous, even to death, consequences. The same can be said about its harm for your mouth tissues, especially at people with already existing gum diseases. Diabetes has its first and major effect on gums. However, smoking completes and develops it.

Even if diabetes is considered to influence your gums, there are opinions, among university professors, that untreated gum disease makes diabetes worse. It’s like a two-way street, diabetes and periodontal disease are on the opposite sides and directly influence one another. “If there is any oral infection or inflammation, it is much more difficult to control your blood glucose levels”, they say.

The gum disease treatment depends on many factors determined by the dentist. They are your age, medical history, overall health, your preferences and many other not less important. Diabetes and periodontal disease will be considered together to choose the best treatment procedures.

On the first stages of your gum disease plaque removal can be used. A deep cleaning can help remove the plaque and infected tissue, while smoothing the damaged root surfaces of the teeth. This way the gums can be reattached to the teeth. During the process a special antibiotic might also be prescribed to help control the infection. But deep cleaning is successful only if the patient regularly brushes and flosses after that.

On the other hand, if the gum disease is advanced and your tissues, used to hold the teeth in place, are destroyed then a surgery is absolutely necessary. The dentist will clean out the infected area under the gum, then replace the damaged tooth-supporting tissues. This treatment is applied to increase the chances of saving the tooth.

Diabetes and gum disease always go together. However, the periodontal problem is only a result. That’s why the only way to treat your gums fast and surely is to take total control over the glucose level in your blood.