Oral Health and Diabetes

tooth-cartoon-vectorIt would be nice if everyone would brush and floss, but here’s the deal: people with diabetes have a higher risk for periodontal disease (that’s all the nasty stuff that can happen in your mouth), so we need to be even more vigilant with oral health.

I just read an article about adolescents with diabetes and how they are less likely to take care of their teeth and gums. What’s up with that? It wouldn’t surprise me if adolescents in general didn’t have great mouth care, because adolescence is not a time of focusing on things like brushing and flossing. But why are teens with diabetes even less into it? Maybe they just have too much going on already. Between trying to live life as a teen-ager and then adding blood glucose monitoring, carb counting, (planned) exercise, medications, and health provider visits  – maybe they are busy enough!

If you know an adolescent with diabetes, send them some kind, subtle hints to take care of their mouths. I always remind my kids that brushing and flossing now will help keep their teeth in their heads for years to come. And for kids (and adults) with diabetes it can prevent far more than losing teeth.

Have you brushed and flossed today??

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