The Mouth-Body Connection

It has been said that if the eyes are the window to the soul then the mouth is the window to your body. For a long time there has been a big disconnect between dentistry and medicine. The new paradigm, which is starting to be recognized by most professionals, is that there is very significant overlap between the two. Many overall health problems can be seen in the mouth and treatment of many oral conditions can help manage some types of medical conditions.

I’ve included four different infographics about the mouth-body connection from the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health. They discuss how mouth health makes a huge difference in your risk of the following…

• Heart Disease
• Diabetes
• Certain types of cancer
• Alzheimer’s
• Preterm birth
• Respiratory diseases including sleep apnea and pneumonia

This is a pretty big and scary list of diseases. I’d argue that maintaining good oral health is one of the easiest things you can do to help reduce your risk and/or manage some of the symptoms of these diseases! Good oral health literally takes 5 minutes in the morning and evening.