Don’t let your diabetes get in the way of your oral health! See how diabetes can affect your teeth and gums and what you can do to prevent these problems.
Diabetes is well-known for its effect on the heart, kidneys, eyes, and nerves. However, our dentists at Bellflower Dental Group understand that diabetes’s extent is far-reaching, and it can also play a significant part in the vulnerable or deteriorating health of your teeth and gums. What is diabetes? Diabetes is a disease in which your blood sugar (glucose) levels are too high, leading to catastrophic consequences for your health. With this disease, a person’s body can’t produce or can’t efficiently use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone created by the pancreas’s islet cells to transform blood glucose into energy and regulate your blood sugar.
Common diabetes symptoms include:
Dry mouth
Increased thirst and hunger
Frequent and heavy urination
Sudden and unexplained weight loss
Blurry vision
Frequent sores and infections, which heal slowly
Change in taste
There are two main kinds of diabetes that most patients have. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas either can’t produce enough insulin or your body resists its effects. This is the most common form of diabetes, with over 29 million Americans having been diagnosed. While type 2 often develops later in life, it is becoming increasingly common among children and teens. Factors believed to increase your risk of diabetes include being overweight or obese, inactivity, low “good” cholesterol, and high blood pressure.
With type 1 diabetes, the body doesn’t just improperly use the insulin it produces—it often can’t produce any insulin at all. While the exact reason isn’t known, it’s believed that the body’s immune system falsely identifies the pancreas’s islet cells as dangerous and begins attacking them. This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for any insulin to be produced. Genetics and environmental factors are also thought to play a role. Since the patient has no natural insulin, daily injections must be taken every day, or they will die.
No matter which type of diabetes you have, it can be just as disastrous for your mouth. If you have diabetes, be on the lookout for dry mouth, tooth decay, and gum disease. Here’s why:
Dry Mouth and Tooth Decay
One of the biggest and most common dental problems diabetes can cause is a lack of saliva. To many, we’re sure that this might sound like a relief rather than an issue. However, saliva is a gross but necessary part of your mouth’s defense against invading plaque, bacteria, and tartar. Without enough saliva to break them down properly, plaque and bacteria quickly build up on the enamel surface of your teeth and run rampant. Without excellent and attentive dental hygiene, this can lead to tooth decay and an eventual cavity.
What Does A Decayed Tooth Look Like?
When decay starts developing on your tooth, you may notice that white, chalky spots might appear. At this point, plaque and bacteria have only begun seeping away the critical minerals keeping your enamel strong against them. However, those spots can begin to darken. Eventually, the plaque and bacteria eat away at the weakened area of your enamel until they break through to the softer dentin and dental pulp below. This can be visible with a noticeable hole (cavity) in the tooth, which will deepen as the decay further burrows its way down to the root of your tooth.
If the decay is near or around the gums, your gums may start swelling or bleeding, particularly after brushing or flossing your teeth. This can also mean that plaque and bacteria have moved down below the gums and begun infecting the gums and submerged parts of the tooth. This often leads to gum disease.
Do All Cavities Need To Be Filled?
No tooth cavity should ever be left untreated. Once decay turns into a cavity, there’s no going back. The damaged and diseased parts of your tooth must be removed and sterilized, and then the hole created by your cavity must be filled. This doesn’t always take the form of a dental filling, however. If a cavity is extensive, a more significant part of the tooth must be removed. In many cases, a dental crown is needed to restore the tooth’s look and shape. The dental cavity may even reach down into the dental pulp layer at the center of the tooth. If this is the case, your Bellflower dentist will need to perform a root canal before reinforcing your tooth with either a filling or crown.
Without any treatment at all, the decay will only continue to get worse. It will spread throughout the tooth and attack everything it possibly can. If enough of the dental pulp is damaged, then the tooth may no longer be salvageable. It might even die. When this happens, a dentist has no choice but to remove the tooth so that they can stop the further spread of the decay to neighboring teeth and gums.
Gum Disease
People with diabetes are especially vulnerable to gum (periodontal) disease. Not only can the plaque and bacteria on your teeth spread to the gums below due to dry mouth, but diabetes also makes it easier for periodontal disease to get a foothold on your smile. The disease reduces blood supply to the gums, allowing infections to fester in the gums and bones supporting your teeth. According to the American Dental Association, 22% of Americans with diabetes also have some form of gum disease.
Periodontal infection can make its appearance with the following gum disease symptoms:
Red, tender, and painful gums
Gum bleeding, especially when brushing, flossing, or chewing
Gum pain when chewing
Receding gums
Chronic bad breath
Periodontal abscess, or pus around the teeth and gums
Loose teeth and changed bite
Eventual tooth loss
Can You Fix Periodontal Disease?
Only gingivitis, the earliest stage of periodontal disease, can be fully cured and reversed. It often only requires a dental cleaning and frequent brushing and flossing for two weeks. With later stages like periodontitis and advanced periodontitis, the damage can only be curbed and managed with gum disease treatment. Your periodontist may recommend you receive a:
Deep Cleaning. When gingivitis becomes periodontitis, your gums begin to pull away from your teeth and form deep pockets, which are talented at trapping food and bacteria. With a deep cleaning, your dentist will go a little deeper than a standard cleaning.
Gum Flap Surgery. If deep cleanings aren’t enough, a gum flap surgery will be performed to clean the tooth down to the root before reducing your gum pockets’ size.
Graft Surgery. As your gum disease worsens, your gums will begin to recede and your supporting bone tissue will start deteriorating, leading your teeth to become loose. If this happens, grafts will be needed to replace the missing teeth and reinforce your smile’s infrastructure.
What Happens If Periodontal Disease Goes Untreated?
Left to its own devices, periodontal disease will not stop its attack on your mouth. Earlier stages only cause gum tenderness and bleeding or a receding gum line. However, later ones can lead to your teeth becoming loose and unanchored in their proper places. Eventually, the teeth will fall out on their own. Even if you come to us before that happens, the damage may already be done. Once your gum disease passes the point of no return, the teeth must be extracted, which is both your and your dentist’s worst nightmare.
Keeping Your Mouth In Shape
While these dental health issues may seem nerve-wracking, you don’t have to resign yourself to cavities and gum disease if you have diabetes. We’ve come up with a few things you can do to control your diabetes’s impact and keep your smile bright and healthy.
Manage your blood sugar level according to your doctor’s instructions. Doing your best to control and manage your diabetes is one of the best ways to mitigate its effects on your body.
Keep along dentist-recommended dental hygiene habits. Brushing your teeth twice and flossing once daily remove plaque and bacteria that build up throughout the day on and between your teeth.
Attend professional dental cleanings regularly. Brushing and flossing might seem like they can do the job on their own, but many patients find that they’re not enough. A routine dental cleaning every 6 months ensures any plaque and bacteria are taken care of swiftly.
Keep an eye out for tooth decay and gum disease. At the first warning signs, be sure to schedule an appointment with your dentist or periodontist. The sooner you come to us, the better chance we have of stopping your cavity or gingivitis in its tracks quickly.
Don’t smoke. Smoking and tobacco use can lead to severe complications with your diabetes. They can also create brand new problems of their own, such as oral cancer.
