Some messages coming out of your mouth bypass the vocal chords. Turns
out that your teeth, gums, and surrounding tissues also have plenty to
say -- about your overall health.
"Your mouth is connected to the rest of your body," says Anthony
Iacopino, dean of the University of Manitoba Faculty of Dentistry and a
spokesperson for the American Dental Association. "What we see in the
mouth can have a significant effect on other organ systems and processes
in the body. And the reverse is also true: Things that are going on
systemically in the body can manifest in the mouth."
Dental warning #1: Flat, worn teeth plus headache
Sign of: Big-time stress
Many people are surprised to learn they're tooth-grinders. After all,
they do this in their sleep, when they're not aware of it. And they
underestimate the physical toll that stress can place on the body.
"Crunching and grinding the teeth at night during sleep is a common sign
of emotional or psychological stress," says Iacopino.
You can sometimes see the flatness on your own teeth, or feel it with the tongue. Or the jaw may ache from the clenching.
What else to look for: Headaches, which are
caused by spasms in the muscles doing the grinding. Sometimes the pain
can radiate from the mouth and head down to the neck and upper back,
Iacopino says. Mouth guards used at night can relieve the symptoms and
protect teeth.
Dental warning #2: Cracking, crumbling teeth
Sign of: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Older adults, especially, are vulnerable to teeth that appear to be
cracking or crumbling away. The enamel becomes thin and almost
translucent. But this erosion isn't a normal consequence of aging. In
fact, it can happen at any age.
Disintegrating teeth are usually caused by acid that's coming up from
the stomach and dissolving them, Iacopino says. The cause:
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, also called acid reflux disease).
GERD causes stomach acid to back up into the esophagus -- and from
there, it's a short distance to the mouth for some of the damaging acid.
GERD is a chronic disorder caused by damage or other changes to the
natural barrier between the stomach and the esophagus.
What else to look for: Dry mouth and heartburn are related GERD symptoms. (But in an older adult in someone else's care -- in a nursing home,
for example -- these complaints may go unreported.) Cracking or
chipping teeth in a younger person is also a telltale sign of bulimia,
the eating disorder in which the sufferer causes herself (or himself) to vomit before digesting. Same net result: Stomach acid washes up into the mouth, over time disintegrating the tooth enamel.
Dental warning #3: Sores that won't go away
Sign of: Oral cancer
Many people bite the insides of their mouth as a nervous habit.
Others sometimes bite the gum accidentally, creating a sore. But when an
open sore in the mouth doesn't go away within a week or two, it always
warrants showing to a dentist or doctor. "We all injure our oral
tissues, but if an area persists in being white or red rather than the
normal healthy pink, this needs to be evaluated to rule out oral
cancer," says Susan Hyde, an associate professor of clinical dentistry
at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Dentistry.
More than 21,000 men and 9,000 women a year are diagnosed with oral
cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. Most are over age
60. Oral cancer has a survival rate of only 35 percent, Iacopino says,
but this is mainly because cases are often detected too late. Smokers
are six times more likely to develop oral cancer, but one in four oral
cancers develop in non-smokers.
What else to look for: Suspicious oral
ulcers tend to be raised sores and often have red or white (or red and
white) borders. They may lurk underneath the tongue, where they're hard
to see. Bleeding and numbness are other signs, but sometimes the only sign is a sore that doesn't seem to go away. A biopsy usually follows a visual check.
Dental warning #4: Gums growing over teeth
Sign of: Medication problems
If you notice your gum literally growing over your tooth, and you're taking a medication for heart disease
or seizures or you take drugs to suppress your immune system (such as
before a transplant), it's well worth mentioning this curious
development to your prescribing doctor.
"A swelling of the gums to where it grows over the teeth is a
sign the dosage or the medication need to be adjusted," the ADA's
Anthony Iacopino says. Certain drugs can stimulate the growth of gum
tissue. This can make it hard to brush and floss, inviting tooth decay and periodontal disease.
What else to look for: The overgrowth can cause an uncomfortable sensation. In extreme cases, the entire tooth can be covered.
Dental warning #5: Dry mouth
Sign of: Sjogren's syndrome, diabetes
Many things can cause dry mouth, from dehydration
and allergies to smoking and new medications. (In fact, hundreds of
drugs list dry mouth as a side effect, including those to treat
depression and incontinence, muscle relaxants, antianxiety agents, and antihistamines.)
But a lack of sufficient saliva is also an early warning of two
autoimmune diseases unrelated to medicine use: Sjogren's syndrome and
diabetes.
In Sjogren's, the white blood cells of the body attack their
moisture-producing glands, for unknown reasons. Four million Americans
have Sjogren's, 90 percent of them women. Twenty-four million people in
the U.S. have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, a metabolic disease caused by
high blood sugar.
What else to look for: Other signs of
diabetes include excessive thirst, tingling in the hands and feet,
frequent urination, blurred vision, and weight loss. In Sjogren's, the
eyes are dry as well as the mouth, but the entire body is affected by
the disorder. Because its symptoms mimic other diseases (such as
diabetes), people are often misdiagnosed and go several years before
being properly diagnosed.
Dental warning #6: White webbing inside cheeks
Sign of: Lichen planus
The last thing you might expect to discover while brushing your teeth
is a skin disease. But it happens. Lichen planus, whose cause is
unknown, is a mild disorder that tends to strike both men and women ages
30 to 70. The mucus membranes in the mouth are often a first target.
Oral lichen planus looks like a whitish, lacy pattern on the insides of the cheeks. (The name comes from the same roots as tree lichen,
a lichen that has a similar webbed, bumpy appearance.) Seventy percent
of lesions appear in the mouth before they strike other parts of the
body, says professor Anthony Iacopino.
What else to look for: Another common area
where a lichen planus rash may appear is the vagina. Lichen planus often
goes away on its own, but sometimes treatment is necessary.
Dental warning #7: Crusting dentures
Sign of: Potential aspiration pneumonia
Most people don't connect dentures (false teeth) with pneumonia,
other than to think they're both words that often refer to the world of
the elderly. And yet the two have a potentially deadly connection. "A
leading cause of death in older people is aspiration pneumonia, often
from inhaling debris around the teeth and dentures," Iacopino says.
In aspiration pneumonia, foreign material is breathed into the lungs
and airway, causing dangerous (even fatal) inflammation. Too often, the
problem stems from people in the care of others -- those in nursing
homes, for example -- who fail to clean dentures properly. Dentures need
to be removed daily from the mouth, cleaned with a special brush, and
stored in a cleansing solution.
What else to look for: A
soft, crusty material developing around dentures. With proper cleaning,
though, you don't have to worry about other red flags. "It's amazing.
You can get a 100-percent reduction in what's otherwise a leading cause
of death for denture wearers," Iacopino says.
Many other conditions present in the mouth may be indicative of diseases such as HIV, diabetes, blood disorders, liver and kidney problems,
Full Credit given to:
7 Things Your Teeth Say About Your Health
By Paula Spencer, Caring.com
It’s
a familiar story to think about the millions of people who wake up
every morning and grab their regular cup of coffee to keep them going.
It’s the usual morning routine for millions of Americans today and has
been for a long time now. But these days those coffee drinkers are
moving more and more away from that delicious morning cup of coffee and
reaching for something much more harmful.
