Mouth–Body Connection

!–paging_filter–pThose bi-annual dental checkups can impact more than just your mouth. According to Dr. Marcia Wharton, medical director of Providence Everett Healthcare Clinic, keeping up good oral health habits and checkups is as important as preventive care in the rest of the body. While dental care has been all but forgotten in the swirling debate over enrollment in health care exchanges enacted by the Affordable Care Act, some healthcare providers and dentists are working together to change that and raise awareness of the connections between good preventative dental care and whole body health. Washington Dental Service Foundation, physicians, dentists and fitness experts are launching a statewide campaign in January that raises oral health awareness and provides resources to encourage people to see the dentist regularly. They’ve launched a website, a href=”http://www.themightymouth.com“themightymouth.com/a, for more information. a href=”http://\/\/staging.seattlemag.com/article/roots-good-health“It’s part of a slow-but-steady movement/a that some dentists and physicians are taking towards learning how oral health impacts whole body health, including such diseases as diabetes./p