For Patients

There is growing evidence that oral inflammatory diseases have an impact on systemic health conditions. Severe gum disease in the mouth can lead to destruction of the supporting structures of teeth causing loss of gums and bone. This disease has been associated with cardiovascular disease, adverse pregnancy outcomes, lung conditions, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes. The evidence for some conditions is still growing, but it does highlight how important taking care of your mouth is for the health of your entire body.

Scroll, View & Click on each condition to learn more about how the body is connected to your mouth.

Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Decline

Periodontitis is a severe gum disease caused by lots of types of bacteria leading to inflammation. Because of this, it is thought to contribute to overall body inflammation. There are early links suggesting that this severe gum disease may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease is a broad term for diseases involving inflammation in the gut. There is early evidence indicating a link between severe gum disease and inflammatory bowel diseases.

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Diabetes

There is a well known two way link between diabetes and mouth health.
The level of sugar in the blood is too high in people with diabetes, so keeping blood sugar levels under control is a key issue. When poorly controlled, many issues in the body may arise.

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Lungs

There is early evidence supporting the association between periodontitis and some common lung conditions – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and COVID-19.
Evidence is emerging for the link between mouth bacteria and aspiration pneumonia.

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Pregnancy

There is early evidence supporting the association between periodontitis and adverse pregnancy outcomes including preterm birth, low birth weight and preeclampsia.

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Cardiovascular diseases

There is strong evidence linking severe gum disease and heart diseases.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) are serious heart conditions that contributed to 25% of all deaths in Australia in 2019.

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