CONNECTION BETWEEN STROKE & ORAL HEALTH

Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dies of a stroke every 4 minutes. Sounds horrifying, right? Something more amazing is that the stroke could be due to poor oral health conditions. Yeah, you read it right! Your oral health can have an impact on your heart health and could drive the chances for stroke. Here we discuss how your oral health plays a role in stroke attacks.

WHAT IS STROKE?

A stroke is when a blood vessel bursts in the brain or a blood clot restrict the supply of oxygen to the brain. It could be an Ischaemic stroke or Haemorrhagic stroke, and the symptoms include numbness, paralysis on one side of the body, drooping face, impaired speech, drooping arm and lower eyelid. A stroke occurs due to an unhealthy lifestyle that involves smoking, having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and poor oral health.

HOW DOES POOR ORAL HEALTH INCREASE THE CHANCES OF STROKE?

Your mouth is the prime gateway for food as well as germs. When you consume too many sugary or carbohydrate-rich foods, the harmful bacteria in the mouth feed on these sugars and form plaque. Plaque settles on the teeth and the gum line, infecting the gums. Inflamed, red and swollen gums are signs of early gum disease like Gingivitis. Gingivitis further takes the severe form of Periodontitis where the gums get badly infected and also impact the jaws and bone. 

The harmful oral bacteria cause inflammation and enter into the bloodstream, increasing the levels of C-reactive protein. It causes more inflammation of the blood vessels that increases blood clotting, thereby increasing the risk for stroke. Thus poor oral health conditions and bacterial infection in the oral cavity can increase the risk for heart diseases and stroke. People with gum diseases have chances for high blood pressure.

Also, people who recover from stroke have higher chances of oral infections. It is because their body becomes weak due to stroke attack and sometimes the hands do not perform the activities well, and hence the person cannot nourish good care to their oral health.

If a person is already suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure or higher cholesterol levels, they must nourish extra care to their oral health to prevent oral bacteria from entering the bloodstream and increasing the inflammation. 

A poor lifestyle and eating habits are another possible cause of oral infections and stroke. People these days prefer fast foods that are quick to prepare and delicious to taste. However, people fail to realize that fast foods are bad for their health. The sugar content is too much in these foods that give rise to plaque and bacterial infections in the mouth and the cycle continues.

Follow a good dental hygiene routine that keeps your dental health intact, and visit the dentist for a regular dental checkup routine that preserves your dental health by early detection and treatment of dental ailments. Visit our clinic, The Elite Dental Care, the best dental clinic in Tracy, California for your dental checkup and dental treatments.