Healthy Teeth and Gums May Depend On the Medications You Are Not Taking

What do healthy teeth and gums and the absence of halitosis have in common? The answer is simple: a controlled bacterial environment in your mouth. At the root of gum disease, cavities, and halitosis are bacteria that are uncontrolled and out of the natural balance of acidity that exists in your oral cavity. While there are a plethora of events and foods that may contribute to such an imbalance, it is startling to learn that healthy teeth and gums may depend on the medications you are not taking!

Try this: on the back of your arm put a bit of spit and let it dry, then sniff. Assuming you are not having any skin conditions or just recently rubbed soap or lotion on your arm, what you smell once your saliva dries is the same scent folks are getting when they are close to you. If it smells less than neutral and you are sure of your oral hygiene, then the odds are good that your bacterial population is out of balance and acidity may be higher than normal, leading to decay and thus halitosis. In the same vein, healthy teeth and gums may be adversely affected by the imbalance as well and gum disease may be just around the corner!

Sure, you can mask the smell and minimize the bacterial impact by brushing your teeth, flossing in between them, and then following up with a good dental rinse, but by and large this will not get your oral imbalance under control. Instead, your seemingly healthy teeth and gums may be on the verge of being attacked and having to fight a battle for health they cannot win. Even more insidiously, your healthy teeth and gums may depend on the medications you are not taking!

Consider that saliva is the number one bacteria washing agent in your mouth. Available 24 hours a day it is by far more effective in the long term than the occasional dental rinse. Yet there are several medications on the market which adversely affect the production of saliva in the mouth and thus lead to a condition known as dry mouth. These medications are usually fund in the supermarket aisle where cold and flu remedies are being sold, but they also lurk behind the pharmacist’s counter in the form of antidepressants, weight loss medication, and blood pressure reducing pills.

Considered one of the most benign side effects, dry mouth is rarely reported to a physician when a new medication is taken and it is usually considered a bearable side effect when it comes to realizing the benefit of the medication currently being taken. Of course, failure to report dry mouth to your physician will prevent her or him from either changing the dosage, the medication, or offering suggestions for how to relieve the symptoms and thus it is not surprising that those taking these kinds of medications will before long trade in their healthy teeth and gums for oral tissues and dental structures attacked by gum disease and cavities.