Do your body a favor. Go to the dentist. Research shows there may be a link between oral disease and other health problems such as diabetes, respiratory disease, heart disease, and stroke, as well as premature and low-birth-weight babies. Although scientists are only just beginning to understand this link, dentists are encouraging people to make oral health care a regular part of a healthy lifestyle.
Good health requires good nutrition, but if you don't have strong teeth and healthy gums, your ability to eat properly is diminished. Your choice of foods becomes restricted, and you may have difficulties getting all the nutrients you need.
And it only makes sense that chronic infections in the mouth, as are common with people with gingivitis or gum disease, put strain on the body's immune system.
To help people learn more about preventing oral disease, the American Dental Association (ADA) urges you to talk to your dentist during National Children's Dental Health Month, which occurs every year in February.