Have you ever noticed how when you’ve come down with something, like an unusually heavy bout of the flu, your oral health suffers as well? It’s not a particularly pleasant feeling, that of literally being able to taste the bad breath you usually don’t suffer from and for some people they even have to endure something like tonsil stones which are ordinarily not a problem for them.
All of this occurs because there is a link between your oral health and your overall health – a link which works both ways in that while your oral health is usually a great indicator of your overall health, your oral health can also affect your overall health. Any problems experienced with your mouth can cause health problems to other areas of your body, while health problems in your mouth could be an indicator of a deeper, underlying health issue which would naturally need medical attention beyond your family dentist.
The fact that this is a two-way link makes it that much more challenging in that you ordinarily don’t quite know which is the cause of which, but if you maintain good habits in trying to maintain good health all round, over time you can very easily develop a knack for being able to tell which is the cause and which is the effect.
Prevention is Better than Cure
The thing about this age old truth of life in general is that it has grown into somewhat of a cliché. People spew it as effortlessly as they breathe, but how many of them actually fully understand its magnitude and how many of them actually practice it themselves?
Even if your family medical professionals in the form of your family GP and your family dentist are perhaps running a private practice and effectively make their money through your visits, the best of them preach staying healthy through good habits which are perhaps backed up with regular check-ups as the way to go over trying to rectify health issues which develop and require treatment. So prevention is indeed better than cure, the best of which isn’t necessarily in direct correlation with any health areas of concern you might be trying to steer clear of.
Staying hydrated is a good example of this in that drinking lots of water helps fight against oral health issues such as halitosis, which in turn can be an indicator of the presence of some bad bacteria all the way down to your stomach amongst other organs. So yes, brush your teeth twice daily, get plenty of exercise and take in plenty of fluids to keep the internal plumbing of your system naturally clean.
Personalised Health & Oral Care
It used to be that for check-ups and routine treatments one would head on over to their local family doctor or dentist, but these days the likes of Hawley Lane Dental have turned the traditional family practice into one which also offers all the specialized and high-tech consultation and treatment as required. This is some great news for those of us who want the medical professionals in our lives to assume a more active role akin to a family GP or dentist as this ensures a personalised service, but it also ensures that any potential serious underlying health issues can be picked up with just another routine check-up.
