When Gum Disease is Treated, Diabetes Is Easier to Control
Posted on 11/16/2020 by Cole Anderson, DMD, MS
If you have gum disease, you should address the condition immediately. You should also take immediate steps to treat periodontal disease if you have diabetes. Because periodontal disease impacts your health if you are a diabetic, you cannot wait to treat the disease. The following information elaborates on why improving your gum health will also make it easier to control your diabetes.
Why Gum Health Affects Your Insulin Levels
If you are a diabetic with gum disease, you will find that your insulin levels will be harder to manage. Diabetes and gum disease both can become problems when you don't take care of your teeth and gums. This is especially true if your insulin levels are already high. For instance, when you don't brush and floss daily and have diabetes, the formation of plaque and tartar can lead to the inflammation known as gingivitis. Gingivitis makes it hard to control diabetes, as it increases the sugars in the mouth that enable harmful bacteria to grow. When this happens, you can set up a chain reaction – something that can be prevented by following a course of regular dental hygiene.
How Diabetes Weakens the Gums and Bones
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center Health Encyclopedia, diabetes alters the flow of blood in the blood vessels, and therefore impacts the flow of nutrients. When this happens, it also impacts how waste is removed from the body's tissues. As a result, the gums and bones can weaken, which also elevates the risk for infection. Therefore, having diabetes can have a round-robin type of effect – the condition is harder to control with gum disease and gums disease can develop more easily when a patient is diabetic and does not regularly brush and floss.
Increased blood sugar levels make it difficult for the immune system to fight infection while the development of periodontitis can make it harder to manage diabetes. That is why we want you to succeed at improving your oral health. If you currently have diabetes, it is imperative to have regular periodontal exams. Give us a call today to schedule an appointment and consultation.
Treasure Valley Oral & Facial Surgery, 1000 North Curtis Road, Suite 103, Boise, ID 83706-1337 / (208) 343-0909 / tvofs.com / 9/27/2024 / Related Terms: dental implants Boise ID /
If you have gum disease, you should address the condition immediately. You should also take immediate steps to treat periodontal disease if you have diabetes. Because periodontal disease impacts your health if you are a diabetic, you cannot wait to treat the disease. The following information elaborates on why improving your gum health will also make it easier to control your diabetes.