Dental health, or oral health, is the health of your mouth and teeth, and other parts of your face that enable you to eat, speak and breathe comfortably and efficiently. There are many factors that can affect your oral or dental health, including congenital conditions such as cleft lip and palate, non-communicable diseases like oral cancer, and accidents and trauma to your face. What you eat and how well you look after yourself can also affect your oral health.

However, your oral health can also affect your overall well-being and health. Poor oral health and periodontal disease (severe gum disease) are associated with other aspects of health, such as cardiovascular conditions, and even birth complications. It is therefore important to look after your face, mouth and teeth. This page explains more about why and how you can do this.

Understanding Oral Health

For most of us, our first thought on hearing the words ‘oral health’ may well be related to cleaning our teeth. However, oral health goes beyond simply ‘teeth’ (see box), and certainly beyond mere brushing.

Poor oral health—and oral health problems—are extremely common around the world.

The World Health Organization states that:

• Around half of the world's population are affected by untreated oral disease, including gum disease;

• Oral diseases are the most common non-communicable diseases in countries at all income levels around the world;

• There have been dramatic increases in the number of people with oral diseases since 1990. This is particularly marked in middle-income countries, although low-income countries are catching up;

• More than one-third of the global population has untreated dental caries (also known as cavities or tooth decay). It is the most widespread non-communicable disease in the world. In some countries and regions, more than half of children have caries of their ‘baby teeth’, and more than 2 billion people globally have caries of their permanent teeth;

• Periodontal disease (severe gum disease) is also widespread, with around 20% of the world’s population experiencing this problem. This means that there are around 1 billion cases of it in the world. Periodontal disease can lead to tooth loss over time; and

• Around 7% of people in the world have lost all their teeth (are edentate). The percentage of tooth loss is higher in high-income countries, at around 10.5%, and highest of all in Europe (12.42%). Unsurprisingly, it is also higher in older people.

All figures from the World Health Organization’s Global oral health status report from 2022.

Why Oral Health Matters

Oral health is clearly about far more than just ‘cleaning your teeth’, although this is an important aspect of maintaining good oral health. The World Health Organization’s definition makes clear that it is the implications of poor oral health that matter. Poor oral health may lead to problems with being able to eat, speak or even breathe effectively and comfortably.

However, no part of the human body exists in isolation.

This is particularly true of the mouth, because it is the gateway to both your digestive system (the system that we use to digest food and drink) and your respiratory system (your lungs and from there, your bloodstream). It is therefore not an exaggeration to say that a breach in the health of your mouth is a significant breach in your body’s overall defences against germs.

Like other parts of your body such as your digestive system, your mouth contains many, many microorganisms (and for more about this, you may be interested to read our page on understanding your gut microbiome). Most of the time, these microorganisms are not a problem—in fact, they are an important part of your body, and play a crucial role in keeping you healthy. When you (and your mouth) are healthy, your mouth microbiome will be working in harmony with your body and its systems.

However, you can end up with too many ‘bad’ bacteria in your mouth, for example, if you do not brush your teeth regularly. If so, these bacteria can spread into your digestive system, and into your respiratory tract. This in turn can lead to other problems. For example:

• Some research has suggested that cardiovascular disease is linked to poor oral health, via inflammation and infections caused by oral bacteria;

• Periodontal (gum) disease has been linked to complications in pregnancy, including premature birth. This is particularly worrying because pregnancy can also cause problems with oral health;

• Some bacteria can enter the lungs via the mouth, and cause pneumonia; and

• Many cancers of the mouth and digestive tract are associated with poor oral health.

Maintaining good oral health is therefore important to prevent other health problems. However, there are also other conditions that can worsen oral health. For example,

• People with diabetes often have gum disease more often and more severely than those without diabetes. This, in turn, will mean that they may be more prone to other health conditions, such as those above.

• People with problems with their immune system, such as those with HIV/AIDS, often experience more oral health problems. They tend to be more prone to painful ulcers in their mouths.

• People with cognitive decline, such as those with dementia, often experience worsening oral health. This may be because they are less able to take care of themselves—but it is still a worrying issue.

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Improving Your Oral Health

Oral health is therefore extremely important. What can you do to maintain and improve it?

1. Clean your teeth regularly

Ideally, you should be brushing your teeth twice a day, using fluoride toothpaste. You should also use dental floss, dental tape, or an interdental brush to clean between your teeth.

Hygienists and dentists often recommend using an electric toothbrush rather than a manual brush. This will help you to avoid brushing too hard, and therefore wearing away the enamel on your teeth. Enamel does not grow back once removed, and thinning enamel can lead to problems such as sensitivity.

2. Cut down on sugar in your diet

Our page on Complex Carbohydrates, Sugar and Diet explains the impact of eating carbohydrates on your blood sugar, and the problem of repeating ‘glucose spikes’.

However, there is another impact of eating and drinking sugar: on your oral health.

Sugar interacts with the bacteria in your mouth to produce acid. This eats away at the enamel on the outside of your teeth. Over time, this can result in cavities or tooth decay. Cleaning your teeth removes the sugar, and also both bacteria and acid. However, you can help yourself by not drinking sugary drinks (which are particularly bad) and trying to avoid eating too much sugar in your diet.

Eating more plant-based foods, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, is also good for your oral health—just as it is good for your gut microbiome.

3. Help your children to develop a good oral health routine

Parents are advised to start brushing children’s teeth as soon as possible: that is, from when the first ‘baby teeth’ erupt.

It is then much easier to get your children into a good oral health routine involving regular brushing and visits to the dentist. You should also avoid giving your children sugary drinks: plain water is much better for them.

4. Visit the dentist regularly

Received wisdom used to be that you should visit the dentist every six months. Even dentists admit that this is not always necessary—and certainly not for everyone.

However, regular visits are important, because they will help to detect any issues before they become problems.

Dentists are, for example, trained to spot oral cancers at an early stage, when they are more likely to be treatable. Your visits should be at a frequency determined in discussion with your dentist.

5. Have repair work done on your teeth when necessary

It is a good idea to have your teeth repaired if necessary. This may seem like aesthetic treatment, but it can also avoid problems later.

For example, many people have crooked teeth straightened using braces, or have crowns fitted if one of their teeth becomes chipped. This can save future problems, such as breaking over-prominent teeth if you fall.

6. Avoid tobacco

Everyone should be aware that smoking is bad for your health—but many people are not aware that this includes oral health.

Tobacco use is a major risk factor for oral cancer. Avoiding tobacco, smoking and other tobacco products is a good way to ensure that your oral health remains good.

7. Take extra care under certain circumstances

Some conditions, such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS, can make you more prone to oral health problems, and also exacerbate any that occur. It also follows that you should take extra care with your oral health if you have these conditions. For example, remember to brush your teeth twice a day, or even after every meal, cut down sugar, avoid snacks in particular, and make sure that you visit the dentist regularly.

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In Conclusion...

Oral health is extremely important, both in its own right, and as part of maintaining better overall health.

It is also relatively straightforward to improve and maintain your oral health. Simple steps like brushing and flossing your teeth regularly, reducing the sugar in your diet and avoiding tobacco will take you most of the way there, and are really not very difficult to manage. They certainly seem worth the effort for the likely impact on your overall health.

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