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Is It True That Dental Infections Trigger Meningitis and Heart?

Problems that occur in the area of ​​the teeth and mouth are usually considered trivial diseases. Many people think that a tooth wound or infection is a normal problem and will heal by itself. However, actually, a dental infection triggers meningitis and heart disease. In this article, we will provide a full explanation for you.

Problems that occur in the teeth and mouth should not be considered trivial because teeth and mouth do have germs but are not pathogenic. These germs will only cause disease if they already meet the conditions for infection.

Many people who have problems in their teeth or other types of dental and oral diseases and those who are not competent can cause the infection to spread to other people so that they must be immediately taken to the emergency department.

Dental infections trigger meningitis and a proven heart from a patient affected by infective endocarditis or inflammation in the inner lining of the heart. When investigated further about the cause of the disease, it was found the presence of bacteria that are usually present in the human mouth, namely Streptococcus Viridans, in inflamed tissue.

Further investigation, the presence of these bacteria originates from infections that occur in the patient’s teeth before inflammation occurs in the heart. The infection that causes tooth abscess has spread until the bacteria spread and move through the bloodstream which then attacks the tissue in the heart.

Infection and transfer of bacteria is indeed rare, but does not rule out the possibility of bacterial displacement occurs especially if the conditions of infection have been fulfilled, namely the number of bacteria that are sufficient to infect which can pose a danger of sensitive teeth, the transfer of microbes from one organ to another organ, environmental changes that support infection to mutant bacteria such as increased bacterial resistance due to careless antibiotic use.

Opportunities for infection can be greater if the handling of teeth and mouth is not done by a competent party. There are many diseases that can occur due to infections of the teeth and mouth that expand such as infective endocarditis, inflammation of the lining of the brain or meningitis. Infection can then move to the lungs and cause pneumonia or can also spread to other areas such as the heart, bladder, and kidneys so that dental infections should not be underestimated.

This is supported by research that states that if a child with a history of dental infection can have a 2.7 times higher risk of experiencing Henoch Scholenim Purpura or HSP than children who are not infected with a tooth. HSP itself is a blood vessel inflammation disease that is common in children under 10 years with potential kidney damage.

Further reading:

Shifting Disease due to Infection

The chairperson of the dentist said that if there had been a shift in the trend of infectious diseases dominated by Non-Communicable Diseases or PTM such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes which caused death by 58 percent.

Some of the risk factors for PTM are similar to the causes of diseases in the oral cavity. For this reason, if the treatment of infection in the oral cavity is carried out properly, then the risk of PTM will also be reduced simultaneously.

The mouth is the gateway to the entry of thousands of germs even though it does not cause disease. But the oral cavity is also a mirror of the body where the disease suffered by the body can be seen from the mouth. Prevention of several infections can be done such as by reducing sugar consumption because it can cause the mouth condition to become acidic and the infection to occur more easily.

In addition, brush your teeth regularly after breakfast and before going to bed with toothpaste containing fluoride and using dental flossing.

Besides that, it is also important to routinely check the condition of the teeth to the dentist every six months for prevention and early detection of tooth decay to prevent the spread of infection into a more dangerous disease.

Categories: Dental pain
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