Ouch-no one likes to get bad news in the den­tist's chair. But good den­tal health is a re­flec­tion of good health over­all-and how well you take care of your teeth may re­flect how well you take care of the rest of your body. That's why your den­tist can tell you a lot more about your health than sim­ply the state of your mouth. A rou­tine den­tal ex­am may re­veal prob­lems with your bones, heart, or di­ges­tion be­cause cer­tain warn­ing signs live in­side your mouth. And not on­ly can rou­tine den­tal check-ups re­veal cer­tain health prob­lems, they may al­so pre­vent them. In fact, a new study pre­sent­ed at the an­nu­al meet­ing of the Amer­i­can Heart As­so­ci­a­tion found that peo­ple who re­ceived reg­u­lar teeth clean­ings and scrap­ings had a 24 per cent low­er risk of heart at­tack and 13 per cent low­er risk of stroke com­pared to peo­ple who didn't get such den­tal care.

Heart Prob­lems

Did you know that adopt­ing mouth-healthy habits may ul­ti­mate­ly keep your heart healthy, too? Re­search has found a sur­pris­ing num­ber of links be­tween the state of your den­tal health and your heart. "In­flamed gums and loose teeth can be warn­ings of heart dis­ease," says Alyson Hope Koslow, DDS, a clin­i­cal as­sis­tant pro­fes­sor of restora­tive den­tistry at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois Chica­go. That's be­cause if you have a gum dis­ease like pe­ri­odon­ti­tis, the bac­te­ria in your gums could trav­el to your heart and con­tribute to coro­nary artery dis­ease. Bac­te­ria may al­so in­crease your risk for heart dis­ease by con­tribut­ing to the for­ma­tion of clots or fur­ther plaque build-up in your ar­ter­ies that can in­ter­fere with blood flow to the heart. One Swedish study found that peo­ple with more pock­ets of in­fec­tion of the gum around the base of the tooth had a 53 per cent in­creased risk of heart at­tack com­pared to those with the fewest pock­ets. And as the re­cent AHA study found, reg­u­lar den­tal clean­ings will safe­guard your smile and pro­tect your tick­er.

Di­a­betes

The most com­mon den­tal health con­di­tion for di­a­bet­ics? Gum dis­ease. "Gum dis­ease, bleed­ing gums, and loose teeth are all warn­ing signs of di­a­betes," Dr Koslow says. "Di­a­bet­ics al­so tend to have a slow­er heal­ing time." In­fec­tions at your gum line can wors­en the state of your di­a­betes and can con­tribute to the risk for heart dis­ease and stroke, so it's im­por­tant to take steps to keep your mouth healthy (and your di­a­betes un­der con­trol).

Os­teo­poro­sis

Os­teo­poro­sis is char­ac­terised by the weak­en­ing of bones, and it's most com­mon in post-menopausal women. But could your den­tist be clued in to your thin­ning bones be­fore you are? "Os­teo­poro­sis does not cause changes in the teeth, but it doescause changes in the bone that sup­ports the teeth," Koslow ex­plains. "This may show up as a re­ced­ing gum line and loose teeth." If your den­tist sees any oral signs of os­teo­poro­sis, let your med­ical doc­tor know right away.

De­men­tia

This grad­ual loss of cog­ni­tive func­tion is of­ten sig­naled by con­fu­sion, loss of mem­o­ry, dis­or­gan­i­sa­tion-and an un­healthy mouth. "Peo­ple with ear­ly de­men­tia may show all the signs of poor oral hy­giene," warns Koslow. If you no­tice that a loved one is ne­glect­ing her oral health, skip­ping den­tal ap­point­ments, and hav­ing prob­lems man­ag­ing dai­ly rou­tines, talk to her doc­tor.

Eat­ing Dis­or­ders

By na­ture, peo­ple with anorex­ia or bu­lim­ia usu­al­ly try to hide their con­di­tion-but a den­tist may be the first one to spot it.

That's be­cause eat­ing dis­or­ders can cause poor nu­tri­tion, which can lead to oral con­di­tions like bleed­ing gums and dry mouth. In ad­di­tion, "ero­sion on the in­sides of the front teeth may be a sign of forced vom­it­ing in a young per­son with bu­lim­ia - stom­ach acid wears away at enam­el and al­so makes teeth more sen­si­tive," says Koslow.

Night­time Re­flux

"Ero­sion of enam­el from the in­sides of teeth, es­pe­cial­ly the up­per back mo­lars, is a clue to gas­troe­sophageal re­flux dis­ease (GERD)," Koslow says. Re­flux of stom­ach juices can hap­pen at night - but you may not be aware of it un­til your den­tist sees its ef­fects on your den­tal health. Re­flux dis­ease can cause ero­sion of the esoph­a­gus and may even lead to esophageal can­cer, so let your doc­tor know if your den­tist sees pos­si­ble signs of re­flux. Treat­ment can in­clude el­e­vat­ing the head of your bed, not eat­ing in the hours be­fore bed, and tak­ing acid block­ing med­ica­tions.

Dry Mouth

What's the big deal about dry mouth? "Sali­va helps to wash away bac­te­ria and de­bris that lead to cav­i­ties and gum dis­ease," Koslow says. And if you're pro­duc­ing too lit­tle sali­va, your den­tist will know. Dry mouth may be caused by med­ica­tions or it may be a sign of a dis­ease such as di­a­betes or Parkin­son's dis­ease. The so­lu­tion? Up your flu­id in­take, and your den­tist may even sug­gest a sali­va sub­sti­tute.

(Every­day­Health.com)