Dental Problems For Diabetics The main difficulty for diabetics is not the lack of insulin, it is the result of the lack of insulin and that result is that the blood becomes ultra-saturated with sugar (or glucose). Everyone's blood has glucose in it, the blood carries this energy to the limbs and organs to keep them functioning, but there is a fine balance between sufficient and too much. Insulin regulates that balance, so if you do not make enough insulin, as diabetics do not, your blood becomes thick and sugary. That does not sound too bad on the face of it. Maybe a diabetic ought to be able to run further and faster than others with all that extra energy being pumped about the body. Unfortunately, it does not work like that. The dense, syrupy blood does not get into the fine veins and capillaries, which means a lack of energy in these places, which are frequently at the very ends of your body and in internal and external organs. Skin, hair, eyes, teeth and toes are all starved of the sugars they require to keep them going, not just to keep them super-fit. The places with the finest blood vessels begin to suffer first. Not just that, but where the blood does reach can be more easily infected, because the bacteria think it is party time with all that extra food/energy in the blood. A small infection that the body;s immune system could normally have dealt with in a day or two soon gets out of hand. This is a major difficulty for diabetics and one of the areas that is easily infected is the mouth. Without the regular dental check-ups that affluent people can afford, the mouth would often become infected, as it still is in poorer countries and among poorer classes in rich countries. Children and older people are always needing fillings, extractions and infections sorted out. For diabetics who do not seek appropriate dental supervision this can soon become a major difficulty. Smoking worsens the problem. The problems truly start to mount up for smokers more than the age of 45 when dental issues normally start to resurface after 20 odd years of fairly healthy teeth and gums. Periodontitis is especially dangerous for diabetics. Periodontitis is an infection that affects the bones and gums in the mouth. It manifests itself in receding, bleeding gums. This exposes the blood rich in sugars to infection. Diabetics ought to advise their dentist of their condition and go for a check-up every six months. Diabetics can easily lose all their teeth if they contract periodontitis and it is easily done with high blood sugar levels. The first sign of such dental problems is bleeding teeth or gums.
it is imperative to regulate the blood sugar level to as close to normal as possible to avoid these and other complications and the two first keys to try are diet and exercise, otherwise you might have to fall back on medication. Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a number of topics, and is now involved with Diabetic Friendly Meals. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Cookbooks For Diabetics.