Is Dental Bone Loss Serious?
Dental bone loss can be the result of many things, including trauma, tooth loss, poor oral hygiene, or an underlying disease such as diabetes or osteoporosis. If people take little care of their teeth, their mouths can become a ticking time bomb. Then, if the immune system relaxes its vigilance, it begins its work of destruction: the inflamed gums release microorganisms or their products into the bloodstream, where they travel throughout the body. If an individual has unresolved chronic gingivitis in his mouth, he will probably not only lose his teeth, but this disease, if left untreated, can trigger a huge reaction of the immune system leading to the leaching of substances that settle mainly in the cardiovascular system and accelerate the development of heart diseases in particular and the subsequent event in the form of a heart attack or stroke. Furthermore, there is a proven effect, especially in the area of dementia, when a number of substances are created that lead to, for example, Alzheimer's disease. A heavy load on the immune system probably enables the development of some malignant tumors and certainly reduces the hope for a proper response of the immune system.
There is also a connection between the oral cavity and diabetes, where on the one hand, patients with diabetes, especially the second type, lose their teeth significantly faster, and on the other hand, people with chronic inflammation in the oral cavity are more likely to develop diabetes. Inflammatory gum disease increases blood sugar levels in both diabetics and non-diabetics, which increases the risk of developing diabetes.
Bacteria traveling through the body
Untreated gingivitis, which gradually spreads in depth around the roots of the teeth, eventually leads to periodontitis - periodontal trunks are formed, the inflammation affects the jawbone, the teeth change position in the late stage of the disease and start to wobble, bad breath appears and the whole process ends with the loss of teeth. The biggest danger for teeth is the microbial structure on their surface, the so-called dental microbial coating, or plaque for short. It settles on the surface of the teeth right after they are cleaned, but initially it is not dangerous because it is not populated by bacteria. If people do not regularly remove plaque from their teeth, it gradually increases in volume and creates good conditions for the growth of another group of bacteria. These cause gingivitis, which gradually becomes chronic. It is manifested by redness, swelling and mainly bleeding – when brushing the teeth, when eating, but also spontaneously.
In the case of untreated periodontitis, there is a risk not only of tooth loss, but also other problems with a high probability. If the disease is advanced, bacteria from the mouth also appear in the bloodstream.
In this way, they can also be distributed to distant organs, for example to the heart valves, to the vascular wall and to other organs and systems of the body. The nucleic acids of these bacteria were safely demonstrated in the tissues of patients suffering from periodontitis who underwent heart valve surgery. In addition to untreated periodontitis, the most common sources of infection spreading further into the body are so-called dead teeth or complications of dental caries - dental pockets. A dead tooth occurs when, most often, due to advanced tooth decay, the dental pulp becomes inflamed, which can even die over time.
If you believe you have bone loss, reach out to discuss treatment options (like bone grafting).