Do you feel anxious whenever you have a dental appointment? Does that anxiety morph into outright fear when you know that the appointment includes a procedure that likely involves some level of discomfort? Has this anxiety and/or fear ever led you to avoid scheduling a dental appointment, or even to cancel an upcoming appointment?
Health care researchers have suspected that there are links between oral health and overall systemic health since the late 19th century. The theory got a significant boost this century with a 2000 report by the U.S. Surgeon General that called for more research to determine how periodontal disease is linked to cardiovascular health, stroke, diabetes, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. While the report recognized the existence of the link, it noted that researchers have not yet proven causation. Despite this, the report concluded that “oral health is integral to general health. You cannot be healthy without oral health.”
“Edentulism” and “edentulous” are two words you may not have heard before, but they’re relevant to the oral health of countless people nationwide. “Edentulism” is the clinical term for toothlessness, with the loss of some teeth called partial edentulism and the loss of all called complete edentulism. “Edentulous” is an adjective that describes the state of having lost all of one’s teeth.