As the world continues to progress and develop new technologies, we are in turn able to make new scientific discoveries and learn more about the world we live in. One of the most advanced fields today is the field of medicine. Within the past century alone we have discovered new diseases, developed vaccines, extinguished ancient illnesses, and have developed a much better understanding of the human body and how best to preserve it. In fact, “the highest average life expectancy has risen from less than sixty years old to roughly eighty-five years old” (Friedman). One of the reasons contributing to this large leap of life expectancy is the continuing advancement and understanding of oral health care. Current findings show that managing healthy oral care is fundamental to healthy living. Ultimately, oral health care, both at home and when done professionally, plays an absolutely essential role in maintaining strong overall health due to strong ties between oral health problems and much more serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. 

The earliest signs of humans’ acknowledgement of a need for oral health care dates all the way back to 4800 BC.  “Recent findings in Mehrgarh, Pakistan, showed evidence of drill holes in the molars of skeletons dating all the way back to Period III (4800-3500 BC)” (Hirst). This shows that even thousands of years ago, there was at least a vague understanding that oral health care was important. Today, however, oral health care is far more advanced. There are many facets of maintaining a healthy mouth, but the two largest categories are at-home oral care and professional oral care. 

Keeping up with your oral health at home is an easy and affective way to maintain your health. The most popular forms of this practice are brushing and flossing, both of which should be done daily. 

Brushing should be done twice a day, in the morning and at night, to help remove plaqueand bacteria buildup on teeth. Brushing should be done using a soft-bristle brush withfluoride toothpaste. This toothpaste offers tartar control which may help slow theformation of mineral buildup on teeth. When brushing one should also make sure tobrush the tongue because the tongue has the potential to become the host of largeamounts of bacteria which could result in an oral infection. (WebMD 1). 

Brushing your teeth is one of the most well-known and popular ways that people contribute to their oral health care at home. Flossing, on the other hand, despite being a widely-known way to take care of your mouth, is practiced far less frequently. This is unfortunate due to its many benefits. “Flossing benefits the mouth by cleaning plaque from the gums and ventral and distal surfaces of teeth where cavities and tooth decay are most common,” (WebMD 2). Furthermore, at-home oral care plays a huge role in keeping a healthy mouth. 

The other form of oral care would be professional oral health care. This would be done by visiting a dentist’s office for either a general checkup or to address a specific problem. A general checkup typically consists of a teeth-cleaning from a dental hygienist, and an oral examination by a licensed dentist. A cleaning from a hygienist is much more thorough than an at-home cleaning because hygienists have access to a much wider variety of instruments such as a professional-grade electric brush, high-grade tooth polish, fluoride treatments, and more. Once the hygienist has finished their teeth cleaning the patient typically receives an oral examination from the dentist. Dentists are highly educated doctors of dental medicine, who, in order to practice, must be accepted into and pass four years of dental school. Dentists are trained to diagnose and treat health issues related to the mouth including the teeth and gums. They go about this by using equipment such as drills, probes, brushes, x-ray machines, mirrors, digital scanners, and more. If the dentist finds a problem during his or her examination, then they alert the patient and attempt to schedule another appointment with them to address the problem. Moreover, regular visits to the dentist’s office coupled with at-home oral health care gives patients a much better chance of maintaining a healthy mouth and therefore better overall health. 

Oral infections are one of the most common diseases of humankind and rare linked to much more serious health problems. These infections, such as cavities, canker sores, and gum infections are caused primarily by a buildup of bacteria through lack of proper oral care. 

The most common oral infections are cavities and periodontal diseases such as gingivitisand periodontitis, which are chronic inflammatory diseases that slowly and steadilydestroy the supporting structures of multiple teeth. Significant epidemiological evidencesupports an association between oral infections, particularly periodontitis, and stroke,especially among men and younger individuals. (Kholy et al.). 

Inflammation is a huge factor both in cardiovascular disease and oral infections. That is why dentists such as Dr. Thomas E. Van Dyke recommend, in order to help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems, that people keep up with their oral health and maintain healthy teeth. In addition to creating health problems elsewhere in the body, oral infections can make already existing health issues much more severe. Dr. Van Dyke explains this phenomenon. 

"The majority of diseases and conditions of aging, including obesity and type 2 diabetes, have a major inflammatory component that can be made worse by the presence of periodontitis," he says. "Periodontitis is not just a dental disease, and it should not be ignored, as it is a modifiable risk factor."

Not only can oral infections create new problems of their own, they can increase the severity of health issues such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Although many oral infections are highly treatable and not severe, none should be ignored. It is evident that these health issues could have severe consequences to a person’s overall health. 

Another more serious oral condition is oral cancer. According to Dr. Susan Flippi, a precancerous lesion can begin as a small white or dark red patch that may or may not have any noticeable symptoms (Langille). Oral cancer, like all cancers, is caused by unchecked multiplication of mutated cells, which could become extremely severe to the point of death if left untreated. This has the potential to become an issue for the health of the rest of the body as well, because if the cancer metastasizes, meaning that a secondary malignant growth develops, then the cancer can spread to other, more serious parts of the body. If left untreated, oral cancer has the potential to spread to the heart, lungs, liver, or brain all of which are extremely fatal. There are many ways a person can help prevent oral cancer. Practices which increase a person’s risk for oral cancer include smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and dipping tobacco. By avoiding doing these, a person can help significantly decrease their risk for oral cancer. In addition to keeping a healthy mouth, through brushing, flossing, and other means, avoiding the above actvities helps to prevent oral illnesses from infecting the mouth. By maintaining a healthy mouth, a person helps to prevent other more serious illnesses, such as cancer, from forming. In addition to help preventing this, by regularly keeping up with their oral care, a person is more likely to find signs of oral cancer, which could help them catch the cancer before it becomes more serious. 

Oral infections and other oral conditions are also able to adversely affect the body in a more indirect way. Although it is uncommon, some oral maladies may become so severe that the patient must resort to going to an urgent care facility or a hospital. Reports of the Surgeon General remark that this could potentially put patients at a much greater risk of general morbidity for individuals whose oral infections have caused them to become immunocompromised, having a problem with your immune system. It is one of the most common problems and concerns for most people who visit hospitals, that they pick up an additional malady from another infected person at the institution. The immune system for someone with an infection is already lower than normal, making them more susceptible to disease causing bacteria and viruses, so an infected person in a hospital is much more likely to become even more sick than someone who deals with their infection early and does not need to go to the hospital. If a person with an oral infections goes untreated and allows their infection to fester and grow, they may end up having to go to the hospital which will expose them to a multitudinous amount of germs and bacteria. Due to the primary oral infection, this person’s immunity to other bacteria is lowered, so being in a hospital gives them a higher likelihood of developing another illness. 

In addition to treating infections, taking care of your oral health is an important act to practice throughout your entire life; however, oral health becomes increasingly important as people get older. As people age, their bodies begin to slow down and become more susceptible to illness and injury. Because of this, people have pushed for the healthcare system to be more beneficial to the elderly regarding oral care. There are many more, however, who see improved healthcare as something that should be given to the masses. This is due to the “the connection between oral health and well-being is absolutely interconnected and bi-directional. Thus, it is imperative that the American healthcare system include, and fund, oral health as part of overall healthcare- not just for older adults, but for people of all ages” (Biggar and Hood). For too long, oral health has not been looked at with enough importance in the eyes of the government. Michèle J. Saunders, D.M.D., M.S., M.P.H., agrees saying, “There is no question that the health culture in which we live has minimized the importance of oral health, relegating it to ‘it’s only a tooth’ and not really seeing it as an integral part of the body. Until we get past this narrow view, the healthcare system will not change as it should. Policy makers, healthcare providers, older adults, and their families need improved oral health literacy to effect this change.” This is unfortunate because of how much more beneficial the health care system could be if it included better oral health plans. Hopefully, one day our society might evolve and recognize the importance of oral healthcare on the overall health of people. 

The push for improved healthcare is more important than ever because of the shocking disparities in oral health across the nation. “The gap is widest between children from high-income families and those from low-income families,” (Treadwell and Formicola).  This is most likely because of the large difference in resources available to these children. One cannot expect for children who have access to smart, qualified doctors and enough money to buy consistent supplies of dental products to have the same level of oral health as children who are bereft of resources such as qualified doctors and dentists and whose money is usually allocated for goods such as food and rent rather than dental supplies. 

Although all children enrolled in Medicaid are entitled to comprehensive dental services,only 18% of Medicaid eligible children have ever received even a single preventivedentalservice. Only 72% of Hispanic children and less than half (47%) of Black childrenvisit adentist at least once per year, whereas almost all White children receive dentalcare. (Treadwell and Formicola).

These statistics are startling because of how large the gap is between these groups of children. It is difficult to understand how our society can continue to allow for such discrepancies to exist. It has been clearly proven that oral health is of great importance to a person’s overall health, and oral health during childhood is even more important. That is because a person’s childhood years are essential for building healthy habits such as taking good care of their mouth. A recent study shows that “47% of White adults received a dental examination, while only a quarter of Black and Hispanic adults did. Black men have the highest rate of oral cancer and the lowest survival rate of any population group. More than one third of older Blacks have lost all of their teeth, compared with one quarter of older Whites” (Treadwell and Formicola). Not only does this prove how important oral health is to a person’s overall health because of how much more prone to infection and disease that the people who do not receive dental examinations are, it also shows that there is an extremely unsettling disparity between the oral health levels of different groups in this country. 

Although today it seems that maintaining good oral health is commonsense, it has not always been this way. At one point, humans did not see oral health as a medical issue; they saw oral health as a cosmetic issue. The oral health practice of the Ancient Mayans was far different than the practices of today. When the Mayans had cavities or tooth decay, instead of drilling the teeth or applying medicine they would glue gems onto the teeth in order to improve their appearance. This differs from modern day practices where, although the cosmetics of teeth are very important, we do not just fix the appearance of the teeth; we attempt to heal the teeth as wholes. Although the practices of the Mayans may seem primitive and impractical, there was actually science behind their practices. In order to bond the jewels to the teeth, “the stones were then affixed to the crevice using plant sap, other chemicals, and even crushed bone” (Lakeview). 

In the middle ages, there was no form of practice or profession regarding dentistry. Dentistry was not even regarded as a legitimate profession. Back then, oral health was looked after by either a doctor or a barber. This is very different from today, where oral health is looked after by extremely qualified Dentists who have received specialized schooling on how to treat oral maladies. 

 It wasn’t until hundreds of years later, when French physician Pierre Fauchard, The Fatherof Modern Dentistry, wrote a book detailing proper care for teeth and the link betweensugar and cavities that dentistry evolved as a respected medical practice. Because of hiswork, the first dental college opened in Baltimore in 1840. (Lakeview). 

Once this first dental college opened the door to dental discoveries opened as well. From here on out dentistry was able to evolve and expand into the highly respected field of study that it is today.

Ultimately, oral health care, both at home and when done professionally, plays an absolutely essential role in maintaining strong overall health due to strong ties between oral health problems and much more serious health problems. Maintaining your oral health is a relatively simple task. Brushing your teeth and flossing is an easy way to clean at home, and regular visits to the dentist are a good way to get a thorough clean and also get a professional evaluation. Keeping up with oral health is important in order to avoid oral infections. These infections, while common, can be the cause of many different health problems such as stroke, cardiovascular disease and more. Not only can these infections create more problems, but they can increase the severity of existing problems such as diabetes. More severe health concerns, such as oral cancer, are also a threat to a person’s overall health as it can spread to different areas and result in hospitalization, which could expose the patient to a whole new host of diseases. Therefore, oral health should be regarded with the utmost seriousness as it clearly plays a fundamental role in the health of the rest of the body. 
