Diabetes and Oral Health Care

Oral dental care is an area of complications for those people who suffer with diabetes. Because of problems with blood glucose, diabetics have a great amount of problems with dental care. This is caused by chronic diabetes especially when the diabetic does not keep the diabetes under control. This leads to a reduction in the amount of white blood cells available to fight infections in the areas of the mouth.

There are a number of areas in the mouth that cause the most problems. A good majority of problems occur because of dry mouth which is caused by decreased saliva. Because of this problem, there is more tooth decay, infections as well as mouth ulcers in the mouth of a diabetic. These problems can be avoided by chewing sugarless gum, eating sugarless mints, or melting ice chips in the mouth or taking frequent drinks of water.

When sugars and starches in food and beverages interact with bacteria in the mouth, plaque forms on the teeth. The acid in plaque attacks the hard enamel of your teeth. Of course, this leads to cavities. The higher your blood glucose level, the more acid wears at your teeth.

Another huge complication for the diabetic is in the area of gum disease also known as gingivitis and periodontitis. When the blood vessels in the mouth get thick due to diabetes, it slows the blood flow and therefore fewer white blood cells are brought to the mouth to fight infections. The blood flow to the mouth carries nutrition to areas in the mouth as well as carries waste away from the mouth. Gum disease occurs because of infections of the gums so this restricted blood flow can cause gum disease to be much more severe and harder to control in a diabetic.

This also can cause problems when healing after any dental surgery or dental procedures because of the restricted blood flow to the mouth. It is extremely important that your dentist knows about your diabetes so he or she can take any precautions necessary.

Make certain that you give your dentist your medical doctor’s name as well as office phone number to include in your dental file. This information needs to be readily accessible if your dentist should have any concerns or questions.

Your dentist also needs a list of all the medications and dosages you are on. Your dentist needs to have this information to prescribe medications for you that are least likely to interfere with other medications you are already taking. With a major infection, your insulin dosage will need to be adjusted.

Any diabetic with braces or any orthodontic appliances needs to contact their orthodontist immediately if a bracket or wire cuts into your mouth or tongue.

See your medical doctor before you scheduling any surgery for periodontal disease. Your medical doctor and you dentist as well as your oral surgeon should talk to each other about your overall medical condition before planning any dental treatment. If oral surgery does get scheduled, either your dentist or doctor will have you take any pre-surgical antibiotics or need to change your schedule of meals or the dosage or timing of any insulin therapy you are on.

Part of the diabetic’s health care must include regular visits to the dentist at least every six months to keep your teeth in good shape and to avoid any gum problems that can develop. A diabetic must also have good oral hygiene by regularly brushing at least twice a day and flossing every day.

Diabetics who are frequently on antibiotics to fight any infections are prone to developing a fungal infection in the mouth and tongue known as thrush. This infection tends to develop because of high sugar levels in saliva of those who are not keeping their glucose levels under control. Denture wearing can also lead to fungal infections.

The key to avoiding any of these oral health problems is the continual monitoring and managing your blood glucose levels. Diabetics who are smokers should make every effort to quit as they are much more likely to have gum and mouth problems since smoking impairs blood flow to the gums.

Diabetes oral care is another area of complications for people who are diabetics and the complications in this area can be immense.

Managing diabetes is a lifelong commitment and this also includes a lifelong commitment to proper dental care.