Transcription:
Live Longer & Better with Good Oral Health

Melanie Cole: We all know oral health is important, but how is it connected to our overall health? My guest today is Dr. Brad Alderman. He’s a cosmetic dentist and the president of Nebraska Family Dentistry. Dr. Alderman, how does oral health impact our general health? People tend to think that the mouth is just in and of itself, but it really is involved in the whole system isn’t it?

Brad Alderman, DDS: It really is. Taking care of your teeth and gums is more than just preventing cavities and gum disease or bad breath. The mouth certainly is a window into the body and can show us the health of the body. It certainly shows if we have inflammation or distress.

Melanie: So, then tell us a little bit about some of the conditions that could be flagged, as it were, by situations that a dentist such as yourself might find in our mouth.

Dr. Alderman: Well, certainly two of the most common signs that we directly look for for overall body inflammation are gingivitis and periodontal disease. But further, we now know that our gum health, and specifically periodontal disease, it strongly associated with heart disease, diabetes, stroke, memory loss. Just overall higher levels of systemic inflammation.

Melanie: So, you started this. You mentioned that word inflammation. What is inflammation and how does oral health connect to information as well as things like autoimmune diseases? And even cardiovascular disease has been linked to inflammation.

Dr. Alderman: Right. Well, so the first part, inflammation is the body’s natural response to, in the mouth, the presence of harmful bacteria. So, we certainly see that early stage of periodontal disease as gingivitis where gums just become swollen and red due to the inflammation. Left untreated, that progresses to an inflammatory disease that ultimately effects the soft and hard structures that support our teeth. There is a direct link with periodontal disease and other chronic inflammatory diseases of the body. So, we now know that through several different mechanisms that the direct effect of periodontal disease with cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Melanie: Can we stop inflammation?

Dr. Alderman: We can’t stop inflammation. Our ultimate goal is to try to limit inflammation. In fact, acute inflammation is actually good for us. That’s how we prevent illness. Even if we get a hot cheese burn on the roof of our mouth, our body responds with acute information in order to take care of that. Obviously decreasing overall information long term, and certainly preventing acute information and preventing long term information is our ultimate goal.

Melanie: As our mouth can kind of give us a window into what’s going on with some of the other parts of our body, can some medical conditions also effect our oral health and cause problems that… You know they kind of go together?

Dr. Alderman: Yeah, that’s a great question. There’s almost a reciprocal relationship between chronic conditions and the health of our mouth. So, what we see is if you take a look at diabetes, that properly controlled treatment with periodontal disease helps improve treatment and outcomes with diabetic patients. Uncontrolled periodontal disease, uncontrolled dental conditions makes it very difficult to treat the active diabetic patient. We see that with other chronic inflammatory diseases of the body as well.

Melanie: Dr. Alderman, is saliva a good thing? Tell us a little bit about what the saliva does in our mouth.

Dr. Alderman: Saliva is a good thing. So, saliva, we count on saliva to help naturally cleanse our mouth. To help control some of the bad bacteria that is on our teeth and gums. Saliva also helps to neutralize the acid that is produced by bacteria, specifically after meals. What we see with older adults, or those patients who are on multiple medications and they have decreased saliva flow is that it contributes to the deterioration of their oral health.

Melanie: Wow. Isn’t it so interesting. So, as we’re looking at these links to infections, diseases, dental plaque comes up again and again. As plaque builds up, we just think it’s because we’re not flossing well enough or not brushing clearly enough. That’s not always the case, is it?

Dr. Alderman: It’s not always the case. Certainly, brushing and flossing and we always recommend an appointment with a dentist for a thorough evaluation. There’s more than that. It’s certainly education on avoiding processed foods, eating healthy meals, and limiting in between snacking. Also, we see so many patients now drinking soda and energy drinks. We provide education about that and its association with your oral health. So, there’s so many different areas that need to be addressed in terms of oral health.

Melanie: So, then make a case for us for these good habits. What is it that you would like us to do? You’re mentioning overall health. Certainly, eating a healthy diet, getting exercise. What else would you like us to know about this connection between our oral health and our overall health?

Dr. Alderman: Well, there is a direct link. Our oral health provides a window into our overall health. So, the important thing is to notice our gums, notice our mouth. Do we have bleeding gums? Is it an issue that needs to be addressed? Obviously, eating a well-balanced diet and avoiding soda and energy drinks, but further avoiding smoking, taking vitamin C and D daily. It’s possible that you need to add probiotics with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria directly into the oral cavity with our mouth. Obviously exercising regularly. Eliminating food allergies and food sensitivities. Then other simple things. Like stress management, relaxation. A lot of patients don’t understand the connection between stress and our overall health until they finally come in with red, swollen, painful bleeding gums and we have to discuss stress management with these patients.

Melanie: When we go to visit the dentist, even if it’s just for our well checkup and cleaning, usually we get an oral cancer checkup. Tell us a little bit about that and what it is you’re looking for when we get that checkup.

Dr. Alderman: Right, it’s a very good question. With every patient, with your comprehensive exam, you’re going to get an oral cancer screening. So that’s very important because often we find primary cancers of the oral cavity or secondary cancers that show themselves in the mouth. So, these are things that we look for with every patient to make sure that patients are healthy. But if they have an unfortunate lesion that needs to be addressed, that it is addressed and caught early.

Melanie: Wrap it up for us Dr. Alderman. It’s great it advice. Very comprehensive advice on how our oral health effects and impacts or overall health and vice versa. So, give us your best advice, what you would like us to know about this.

Dr. Alderman: I just would like everybody to know that our mouth is not disconnected from the rest of our body. That our mouth is connected. It is directly associated with the rest of our body and the health of our body. So, it’s very important to take very good care of our mouth. It’s very important to brush twice a day and to floss regularly. It’s important to visit your dentist. Furthermore, again, simple things. Eating a health diet, avoiding processed food, exercising, taking your multivitamin, taking probiotics, stress management, and sleeping well are just so important for your oral health and your overall health.

Melanie: Perfect summary doctor. Thank you so much for joining us today and sharing your expertise on this topic that not everybody realizes, this connection. So, thank you again for clearing that up for us. I would like to give a special thank you to our podcast partner, Sampson Construction. If you’d like to learn more about healthy living, you can go to bryanhealth.org. That’s bryanhealth.org. This Bryan Health Podcast. I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.