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Stress Induced Gum Disease The battle against gum disease is fought by our bodies immune system. Bacteria that colonize the teeth would grow out of control if not for the fight to destroy bacteria undertaken by our body’s white blood cells in combination with the blood’s macrophages. Under most conditions the defense system works quite will, however there are often times that our body is not as effective in combating disease. One factor that adversely effects our immune system is stress. Our hygienists routinely find that patients under stress for extended periods of time have more gum inflammation. Visually there is more bleeding and gum tenderness. Fortunately with patients that have regular cleanings, the situation seldom gets out of control. Keeping the plaque off the teeth lessens the negative effect of stress. The exact mechanism stress inflects on our immune system is not precisely understood. In some instances of gum disease it’s the immune systems uncontrolled response to gum disease that causes damage from what might be termed "friendly fire". When our body overreacts to bacteria the damage is sometimes more severe than what the bacteria would have caused. It’s possible this same mechanism may account for stress induces gum disease. John
V. Reitz, D.D.S., F.A.G.D. Copyright
2010. All rights reserved. |
