Hello Friends!

We hope this finds you well. June is here and it's hard to believe that we are half way through 2013 already! All the more reason to treasure each day we are given and to take advantage of the opportunities before us. Life is but a vapour, the bible says! We must never stop learning and we must never stop growing. We hope this month will be a productive one for you. God Bless!

The Importance of Diabetic Oral Care

Diabetes means that you have too much glucose (sugar) in your blood. No matter what type of diabetes you have, this can lead to serious health issues.

Diabetes can affect the entire body. Whether your diabetes affects your oral health depends on how well you are able to control your blood sugar. If your diabetes is under control, it should have little effect on your oral health. However, if your diabetes is not under control, the oral effects can be dramatic.

People with diabetes can have:

• Periodontal (gum) disease that gets worse rapidly
• Gum inflammation (ginigivitis)
• Dry mouth (xerostomia)
• Poor healing in the mouth
• Oral candidiasis (thrush)
• Burning mouth and/or tongue

Uncontrolled diabetes hurts your white blood cells, a main defense against infection. Periodontal disease is a bacterial infection, so people with uncontrolled diabetes are more likely to have it. Their gum disease also is likely to be more severe.

If you have severe periodontal disease, you need to get treatment. Successful treatment also can help improve diabetic control. Any type of infection may cause blood sugar levels to rise. This includes periodontal disease. If the infection is treated successfully, your blood sugar may go down, and you may need less medicine to control your diabetes.

The most important part of controlling periodontal disease is your follow-up home care. If you don't brush and floss daily, your disease will not improve and will most likely get worse. This will make controlling your diabetes more difficult.

 

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