Why are people with severe gum disease more at risk of diabetes, heart disease and death?

“If you fractured your arm and the bone was sticking out through your skin, and then you left it untreated, you would end up with a severe infection and lose the limb. In your mouth there are around 28 teeth, each in essence a small bone doing just that, protruding through the skin.”

Professor Iain Chapple conjures a striking image when introducing the significance of oral health and the dangers of periodontitis – severe inflammation of the gums.

He continues to outline the added difficulty that comes from having those multiple protrusions in contact with the microbiome of the mouth, second only in complexity in the human body to the gastrointestinal tract microbiome.

► See also: BRUXISM : Stopping Teeth Grinding or Bruxism


Fuente: Youtube/University of Birmingham