How Do Extra Cleanings Help With My Diabetes?

You may be surprised to learn that dental cleanings can help you manage your diabetes; continue reading to learn more.

Diabetes and Gum Health

While the two may at first seem unrelated, there is a direct relation between the health of your gums and various health conditions; diabetes being at the forefront.

In order to fully understand how the two conditions affect each other, it’s important to first understand exactly what diabetes is. 

Diabetes is a condition in which the body fails to process the sugars in foods and beverages for energy use. 

There are three different types of diabetes: 

• Type 1: An autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks pancreatic cells that produce insulin.

• Type 2: The body is unable to properly produce insulin as needed.

• Gestational: Affects women during pregnancy.

Depending on the type, the body struggles in different ways with maintaining blood sugar levels, which can pose major risks to the overall health of the body. 

Diabetes causes the following conditions:

• High blood sugars in saliva promotes growth of more bacteria (plaque), thus leading to more mouth problems.
• Negative changes in the blood vessels, which weakens the blood flow that delivers essential nutrients throughout the body. This, in turn, causes the gum and bone tissues to weaken, making them more susceptible to infection.
• Delayed healing time for wounds and infections (since gum disease is an infection of the gum tissue, this poses a problem)

As it turns out, diabetes has a direct impact on gum disease, and vice-versa.

Infections caused by gum disease cause the blood sugar levels in the body to rise, which can make it incredibly difficult to keep diabetes under control for those who are already diagnosed. For those who are not diagnosed, extreme cases of gum disease may put the individual at risk for developing diabetes. 

How Do Extra Cleanings Help?

Removing bacteria from the mouth helps control diabetes. During your cleanings, your hygienist will remove plaque both below and above the gumline before placing antibiotics in the pockets between the gums and the teeth. This is done to ensure that the area will remain protected from high levels of dangerous bacteria. Staying on a shorter regimen for getting dental cleanings, help control the bacterial growth,thus helping in the control of diabetes.

Teeth Cleaning in San Jose, CA

Here at Willow Glen Dental Specialists, we will help you maintain optimal oral health in order to preserve the overall health of your body.

To learn more about how extra cleanings can help your diabetes or to get scheduled for a consultation in our San Jose dental office, give us a call anytime at 408-478-9081.

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