Diagnosed With Diabetes? Understand How It Will Impact Your Gums And Teeth

Being diagnosed with diabetes will have not only have an impact on your diet but on your oral health as well. Diabetes impairs how your body fights off a bacterial infection. With your mouth having such high levels of bacteria due to the foods you eat, it can increase the likelihood of dental problems. Be aware of the following oral health problems that can occur due to having diabetes.

Gum Disease

There are several factors that contribute to gum disease, but the ultimate cause of all of them are bacterial infections. This is why having diabetes puts you at a high risk of developing gum disease.

If gum disease becomes severe, it can cause bleeding, receding, and sore gums. If you ignore your issues with gum disease, you may suffer from tooth pain or tooth loss. You can catch gum disease early on, but it can be difficult to fix any of the damage you caused by ignoring the problem. If you have any early warning signs, visit your dentist immediately.

Thrush

Thrush can be identified by a white, thick coating in your mouth due to a fungal infection. It's common in those with diabetes that have not yet learned how to control it due to the higher than normal amount of sugar in their saliva. Thrush will feed off the sugar in your mouth.

Smoking cigarettes while being diabetic puts you at a higher risk of developing thrush. This is due to how cigarette smoke negatively impacts blood flow to the gums, and ultimately creates a breeding ground for the fungal infection.

Your dentist can help develop a plan to prevent thrush from occurring if you are at risk due to smoking or have a high-sugar diet.

Difficulty Healing

Another problem with being diabetic is that you will heal slower than normal. The body needs ample blood flow to heal, and since diabetes can limit blood flow, your body will heal slower than usual. This applies to all types of damage, especially damage in your mouth.

You may find yourself having difficulty recovering from a dental procedure, such as receiving a dental implant. It can also cause small cuts in your mouth to heal slowly as well. Let your dentist know if you have diabetes so they can take additional precaution when performing dental work on you.

Now that you know about how diabetes can impact your oral health, you will be prepared for the potential problems that can occur. 

To contact a local dentist, get in touch with a dentist such as Chen Sharon DMD PC.