What's
the Mouth Got To Do With It?
Lynda McKeown, RDH, HBA, MA
The reporter from the local newspaper was
interviewing me. He wanted to know more about the Fresh Breath
Clinic. The conversation somehow moved from the topic of treating
clients with oral malodor at the Fresh Breath clinic to bacterial
plaque removal for residents in long term care facilities. As I rambled
on about lowering the bacterial 'loads' in the mouth to prevent
other illnesses Jim, the reporter, interrupted. "What's the
mouth got to do with other diseases?" "Various bacteria in
the mouth have been found to contribute to other disease in the
body," I replied.
During our conversation, I had 'introduced' Jim
to Prophyromonas Gingivalis, Treponema Denticola and Bacteriodes
Forsythus in relation to periodontal disease and chronic bad breath.
He was 'mildly' interested. After all, he had a job to do. He had to
prepare an article for the health section of the paper. He was being
appropriately attentive as I supplied information about testing for
breath odor.
Then I remembered something on my desk. My
sister had e-mailed an article prepared by Christian Millman,
prepared for a Men's Health section for ABC News. I was able to
quote: "Farmers, cowboys and other sensible men always examine
a horse's mouth before buying the animal. One good look can sum up
the horse's health history and predict how long the old boy will
live. A human mouth isn't much different. Keep your pie hole clean
so disease causing bacteria don't gain entry to your blood
stream."
I could tell that I 'caught' his attention. It
was my good fortune that another part of the article referred to
bacteria we had previously mentioned when we talked about breath
odor problems.
Dr. Robert J. Genco of the University of
Buffalo studies 1372 people at the Gila River Indian community in
Arizona. He found that those with gum disease had triple the risk of
heart attacks in a 10-year period. He believes that oral bacteria
enter the blood stream through small tears in the gums. The bacteria
Genco suggests, may infect the liver and cause it to produce artery
clogging proteins, or the bacteria may directly infect the heart
arteries and somehow cause blockages. The exact mode of attack is
still a mystery, but porphyromonas gingivalis bacteria have been
found in fatty arterial blockages that cause heart failure.
A further portion of the article related to
our discussion about residents in long term care: "With every
breath, your lungs suck down a stew of bacteria including chlamydia,
pneumonia and pseudommas aeruginosa, two bugs that cause respiratory
disease. Our immune systems usually destroy these invaders, but when
a person's resistance is low, such as during an illness or after
surgery, these bugs can infect our lungs and cause bacterial
pneumonia."
I explained to Jim that if a person in a long
term care facility has a great deal of bacterial accumulation in
their mouth, the 'barrier systems' of the mouth may 'break down'
resulting in respiratory pneumonia. If a resident has to be moved to
an acute care facility for treatment, this is costly to the publicly
funded health care system. Therefore, it is cost effective to keep
the mouth clean.
Now I observe that Jim is thinking. Then he
said to me, "My dentist takes about 15 minutes to clean my
teeth. My friends tell me that their appointments are usually an
hour. Now it is my turn to pause and think."
"Jim," I said, "How about
asking your paper if you can do an assignment? We have a dental hygiene
program at the Community College in town. A dental hygiene student
will examine your mouth and clean your teeth with faculty
supervision. Now only will you get a human interest story, you will
also gain a better understanding of the importance of a clean
mouth."
As dental hygienists, we need to take
advantage of opportunities in our communities to explain what the
mouth has to do with general health and wellness. Jim titled his
article; "It's a Jungle in There!" The title teases the
reader to pursue the information: "What the Mouth Has To Do
With It."
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