How Obesity Damages Your Oral Health

This month, the New England Journal of Medicine  published a research study about the high prevalence of obesity in America (and worldwide).  The article discusses health related and mortality issues, but does not discuss the impact of obesity on your dental health—and it can have a profound effect.   

Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in more than 70 countries and has continuously increased in most other countries.  Many medical professionals consider obesity a chronic disease. Obesity is on the rise in the United States and younger and younger members of our community are becoming obese due to poor nutrition and eating habits. Research demonstrates that obesity increases the risk for hypertension; type 2 diabetes; arthritis; cardiovascular disease; respiratory problems; and endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancers.  How obesity affects your dental health is in three main ways:

Obesity Increases Inflammatory Hormones and Proteins

A 2006 research study in Grand Rounds in Oral and Systemic Medicine demonstrated that obesity increases the risk of periodontal disease, and it may be insulin resistance that regulates the relationship between obesity and periodontal disease. Individuals with elevated body mass indices (BMI) produce a higher level of inflammatory hormones and proteins.  Very often it is these same hormones and proteins that are also responsible for many of the diseases outlined in the previous paragraph.  And a diet that is comprised of highly processed foods is likely to provide enough essential nutrients, potentially making it more difficult to fight off an infection in your mouth.  In fact obese people have about double the risk of gum disease.

A Typical Obese Person’s Diet Contributes to Plaque and Cavities

It’s obviously understood that obesity occurs when a person consumes more calories than they are able to use during a day (much fewer than 1% of the cases are due to any other cause).  In order to consume the requisite calories to result in obesity, the diet will consist of calorie-dense foods, most often high-sugar, high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods.  Anytime we eat food, some of it gets trapped in our mouths.  Foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugars (1) start turning almost instantly into plaque, and (2) provide the ideal food for bacterias, which give off acid waste, resulting in cavities.  As my professor in dental school said, “One Frosted Flake gets stuck to a tooth, and the bacteria are in ‘fat city.’” 

Obese People Tend to be Mouth-Breathers

Being called a “mouth-breather” is a derogatory slang term referring to low intelligence.  Physiologically the type of air, the quantity of air, and what the body does with it is very complex. For a great explanation, you can tune in to Lectures in Respiratory Physiology by UCSD Professor John B. West, MD, PhD, on YouTube. When breathing takes place through the mouth, a great deal of physiology cannot take place, moisturized air comes from the sinuses, and that's the big issue missing in mouth breathers. Mouth breathing affects the pH of the entire body, meaning the blood ... meaning the saliva.  A low pH oral environment is not only corrosive to the teeth directly, but the acidic pH activates the acidophilic and acidogenic bacteria to set up housekeeping. Building a healthy biofilm in the presence of acidic saliva is nearly impossible. Acid begets acid. 

Obese people tend to breath through their mouths because obesity causes the tonsils, tongue and adenoids to be a greater size than normal, thus obstructing sinus-breathing. But this is not only a condition of the obese.   Interestingly, mouth-breathing can also be a problem for the very fit, as breathing by mouth might be necessary during long durations of high exertion.

Action plan for a Healthier Weight and Smile

There are things you can do to increase your oral health, which will also affect your weight and overall health, such as:

• Reduce portion size and consume fewer calories 
• Drink enough water (and stay away from soft drinks and juices)
• Limit your intake of candies, cookies, processed snacks and pastries
• Avoid junk food, deep-fried food, and fast food
• Do not use food as a reward
• Increase your physical activity
• Brush twice a day and floss each night after brushing
• Visit your dentist regularly

Keep smiling,

Dr.Elzbieta W. Basil, DMD is a private practice dentist with offices in West Hartford Center and Downtown New Britain, Connecticut.  She is a Clinical Instructor at the UConn School of Dental Medicine, and has won several awards naming her regional “Best Dentist” and “Top Dentist.” She is an active member of the Connecticut State Dental Association and the American Dental Association. Tel: 860-561-2121