If tooth disease is not treated, will it just hurt? There's something even scarier to come

As we all know, good teeth mean a good appetite, and the elderly all hope to be able to eat and drink well and live a long and healthy life. Therefore, the elderly should pay special attention to dental care. We know that periodontal disease is one of the main causes of tooth loss in middle-aged and elderly people. Periodontal refers to the gums and alveolar bones, which are the structures around the teeth, like the foundation of a high-rise building, and the teeth are like the main body of these high-rise buildings. Periodontal disease is generally caused by bacteria that cause inflammation and damage to periodontal tissues, just like a problem with the foundation. The soil and rocks from the foundation continued to be lost, causing the high-rise building to shake.

Suffering from periodontitis itself is "very painful", but the scarier thing is yet to come - severe periodontitis can affect the heart and even cause heart disease. Friends who have elderly people at home must immediately want to know the relationship between periodontitis and heart disease. Let’s listen to the analysis of Yu Riyue, director of the Department of Stomatology at Century Memorial Hospital.

Director Yu said that periodontal bacteria will flow through the blood to blood vessels throughout the body (including the heart). Because of the direct local impact, the vascular endothelial cells lose their function, which in turn leads to atherosclerosis of the vessel wall and increases the risk of vascular obstruction, and the risk of myocardial infarction will also increase.

Moreover, the bacteria of periodontal disease flow through the blood to blood vessels throughout the body, causing the body's inflammation index to rise. It can be said that periodontal disease itself can cause inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body. Blockage of the coronary arteries of the heart is itself the result of inflammation of the blood vessels. Therefore, through vascular inflammation, periodontal disease can cause cardiovascular blockage.

Medical research shows that the genetic location that affects and causes periodontal disease is similar and close to the genetic location that causes heart disease. These factors include: obesity, diabetes, smoking, gender, etc. These factors will increase the degree of chronic inflammation of blood vessels. This means that people with heart disease are more likely to develop periodontal disease. On the contrary, people with periodontal disease are at an increased risk of heart disease.

Many people know that cholesterol is an important risk factor for heart disease, as it increases the chance of blood vessel blockage. Among them, cholesterol is divided into high-density cholesterol (HDL) and low-density cholesterol (LDL). High-density cholesterol, commonly known as good cholesterol, can help blood vessels clear cholesterol and prevent it from accumulating in the blood vessels. Low-density cholesterol, commonly known as bad cholesterol, is particularly likely to increase the chance of blood vessel blockage.

More and more elderly people pay attention to their health and regularly have blood drawn to check high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. If your cholesterol is high, you should start taking cholesterol-lowering medication after being diagnosed by a doctor. Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are also closely related to periodontal disease. In addition, studies have shown that patients with periodontal disease have a higher rate of cardiovascular blockage than the general population, so the elderly should also pay attention to their diet.

Periodontal disease treatment methods

In the early stages of periodontitis, changes in teeth and gums are not very obvious, and after treatment the appearance remains the same as before. In addition to using ultrasound and manual scraping to remove plaque and tartar from the surface of your teeth, your dentist will also train you on the correct way to use a toothbrush and dental floss. In daily life, you must fully cooperate with your dentist's instructions and go for regular checkups to minimize the possibility of periodontitis recurrence.

In addition to removing plaque and tartar from the periodontal pockets, the dentist will also level your tooth roots and carefully "plane" the tooth surface to make it difficult for plaque to adhere and easier to keep clean. Because the gums have already shrunk, the original appearance cannot be restored after treatment, but the teeth and their functions can still be preserved. Therefore, it is important to continue to maintain oral hygiene after treatment, otherwise not only will recovery be delayed, but periodontitis will also relapse in a short period of time.

In the late stage of periodontitis, because the alveoli are severely damaged, surgical treatment may be required. The purpose of the surgery is to completely eliminate the lesions, reduce inflammation to a minimum, and restore the physiological morphology and function of the periodontal tissue as much as possible. The surgery is performed under local anesthesia, does not require hospitalization, and usually does not affect your daily routine. You must not relax your efforts to keep your oral cavity clean after surgery and cherish your hard-earned periodontal health.