Poor oral health linked to other negative effects on the body

However that's not the half of it - failing to brush twice a day, floss once a day, and eat a diet low in sugar exposes you to a range of serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses and diseases.

For Dental Health Week (August 7-13), the Australian Dental Association (ADA) wants to alert Australians to the very close links between what goes on in their mouth and the far-reaching effects on the rest of the body.

The risks from a neglected mouth include heart attack, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, stroke, stomach ulcer, asthma, low birthweight babies and pre-eclampsia in pregnant women.

Countless studies over the last few decades have shown these links, and what was concerning, said ADA's president, Dr Stephen Liew, was so many people just weren't aware of this vital link.

So how does the mouth link up with the rest of the body?

"The mouth is the gateway to the rest of the body - it is a highly vascular system with a bed of blood vessels underneath," Dr Liew, a Melbourne dentist, said.

"When the teeth aren't brushed regularly, or not flossed, which reaches areas between the teeth that are inaccessible to brushing, the oral mucosa that lines the mouth become inflamed, opening the blood vessels up and enabling bacteria and toxic products to enter spaces in the mouth lining and the bloodstream. After this, they are free to move onto other parts of the body where they induce a range of responses, such as in the liver or heart.

"So it's important to keep the mouth healthy to minimise the impact on the body."

One of the biggest triggers for this process is untreated gum disease or periodontitis, suffered by one in three Australian adults.

Research across various studies has shown that people with periodontitis have a higher risk of a heart attack than those without it.

In a study by Professor Joerg Eberhard, an oral health scientist and chair of Lifespan Oral Health at the University of Sydney's School of Dentistry, it was found that not brushing your teeth caused systemic inflammation, which could prompt serious cardiac events.

For the study, a cohort of healthy young people with no cardiovascular risk factors deliberately did not brush the same quadrant of their mouths to see what effect it would have on their health.

After three weeks, the inflammation in that quadrant was measured, and it was found the inflammation caused by not brushing there had also reached other parts of their body.

As soon as they started brushing again, C-reactive protein, a risk marker for heart attacks, reduced to normal levels.

"These serious health conditions and events can be significantly reduced if people regularly look after their mouths by brushing twice a day with a small amount of fluoridated toothpaste, flossing daily, eating a diet low in sugar and seeing your dentist regularly for checkups," Dr Liew said.

"This should include a scale and clean, which is vital for removing the bacteria that build up and start the process of periodontitis and inflammation."

While other risk factors include older age, smoking, drinking alcohol above recommended levels and having diabetes, Dr Liew said periodontitis signs can be difficult to spot and may consist of bleeding from the gums and very little or no pain.

Without treatment, the condition can worsen until affected teeth finally become loose.

"While severe periodontitis damage often can't be reversed, you can stop its progression by seeing a dentist for treatment, including professional cleaning of the teeth above and below the gums which the patient cannot access," Dr Liew said.

"Regular dental visits are the best way to keep on top of your oral health and detect and manage conditions such as periodontitis in their earliest stages of development.

"This is in addition to those other oral health basics that add up to only about six minutes a day - but which protect the health of your whole body and not just your mouth."

Information courtesy of the Australian Dental Association.