Dirty mouths, unhappy hearts

EYES may be the windows to the soul but the mouth is the doorway to the heart according to dentists, who warn that neglect of dental health can store up cardiac complaints.

A public forum last night heard the average Irish mouth is home to 400 species of bacteria, which coat teeth, tongue and gums at a rate of one billion bacteria per square centimetre.

Dr Paul O’Reilly of the Dublin Dental Hospital said this made it essential to keep mouths clean and healthy.

“If you develop gum disease there is a real risk that these bacteria can enter your bloodstream and lead ultimately to heart disease.”

The event was organised by the Irish Dental Association, and was intended as a reminder to the public to brush up on oral health.

All the speakers advised regular check-ups, warning there was more than cavities at stake. Over 400 new cases of oral cancers are diagnosed in Ireland each year, most from referrals by dentists.

Men are three times more likely to contract the disease but IDA president Gerry Cleary expected the number of woman sufferers to rise.

“Traditionally it’s a male problem. It’s the heavy smoker and spirit drinker who is most likely to develop oral cancer because cigarettes and spirits are an irritant in the mouth, but those are habits no longer exclusive to men.

“Oral cancers kill almost as many people as cervical cancer but while we’ve all heard about cervical cancer, people hardly know about oral cancers ... many oral cancers are very treatable when they’re caught early.”

Dr Cleary said Irish people were good about visiting their dentist.

“I think any consumer, whether they’re buying a motor car or getting their teeth fixed, looks for value and we feel that we giving a very good service and very good value.”

At the forum, expectant mothers were warned that bad oral health could not only affect their health but lower their baby’s birth weight. Diabetics heard that while they were more prone to gum disease, controlling this could give them a better handle on their diabetes.

One specialist in children’s teeth advised parents to clean their babies’ gums before they had teeth. Dr John Walsh also urged parents to take care of their child’s first set of teeth.

“Some parents only seem to worry about second teeth.”

He said tongue and lip piercings were causing infections and chipped teeth among teenagers, while Dr Pat Cleary said sports-related injuries were an increasing cause of oral damage in younger patients.

A glass of milk could help save a tooth knocked out in an accident, he said.

“A glass of milk will normally do a good job of preserving the tooth and make it much easier for a dentist to subsequently replace it in the mouth.”