Special Dental Report

Tooth decay affects 60 to 90 per cent of schoolchildren worldwide, according to the World Oral Health Report by the World Health Organization. An estimated five billion people worlwide experienced dental caries, and five to 20 per cent of middle-aged adults have severe periodontal disease, which may result in tooth loss.

There's mounting evidence that your oral health affects your entire body. The millions of people with periodontal disease may have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, lung infections and preterm births. Recent studies have shown a link between periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer. And infected teeth and gums left untreated can lead to dangerous, even life-threatening infections of the neck, blood, lungs and brain.

It's clear that without oral health, you're not healthy.

"Patients with periodontal disease bear inflammatory events in other body systems,"

says Dr. Gan Siok Ngoh, Periodontist from the Q&M Dental Group in Singapore. "Individuals with periodontal disease are 30 per cent more likely to have cardiovascular disease."

Prevention is the cheapest and best way to avoid problems. But fortunately, improving your dental health improves your overall health too. Researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine this year that treating advanced gum disease lowered blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease.

from Reader's Digest, December 2007