Take Care of You

By: Rhodana Janssens, Dental Hygienist
Happy Spring, everyone! The Oregon Dental Convention is held in Portland every April and it is such an eventful time filled with learning, connection, and growth. Speakers share their expertise and give out the most current information so that as dental professionals, we can pass the data along to our coworkers, patients, family, and friends.
One of the most interesting courses this year provided recommendations to help decrease inflammation in the body that can be linked to negative health outcomes, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and possibly Alzheimer’s disease, according to recent publications in the RDH Magazine and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Lack of sleep, chronic stress, an unhealthy diet, and neglect of oral care are all factors that contribute to these conditions, listed above.
Here are some recommendations of what you can do to decrease systemic inflammation and improve your overall health:

  1. Sleep. Get enough of it (hours vary with age). Sleep allows the body to heal and repair itself. Sleep also restores our mental and physical energy.
  2. Stress. Find outlets to manage it. Know that this does not have to be lengthy in time and includes a wide range of methods, as it should be something you enjoy.
  3. Gut Health. Feed your body nutritious meals. Fast food, processed foods, and sugars seem to be the big culprits leading to inflammation. The health of the microbiome of the gut is a very hot topic right now.
  4. Oral Health. Maintain a clean mouth (see Dr. Carly’s Smile Healthy in 2018 blog post for tips on this). Gums that bleed, are swollen, and sore means that an infection is present. Gingivitis and periodontal disease means localized inflammation is present and may have an affect on systemic health, as these inflammation factors travel systemically through the blood.

With the current trends of slowing the aging process down, making changes for the better will only help make a healthier you!

[Edited by: Carly Peterschmidt, DMD]