Have you ever thought about the connection between weight loss and dental health?
It might seem unrelated, but a recent study from Brazil has found that people who go through weight loss surgery, or even just prepare for it, are seeing a significant drop in their dental health.
This isn’t small stuff; we’re talking about more cavities, gum disease, and even more serious issues like periodontitis, a severe gum infection that can result in tooth loss.
This study serves as a wake-up call: dental health can’t be overlooked, especially when you’re going through such a life-altering procedure.
The Study Details
Researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo in Brazil led the study. They worked with 100 patients who were either dieting to prepare for weight loss surgery or had already had the surgery.
The study was done at a big clinic that does about 50 of these surgeries every month, mostly funded by Brazil’s national health service.
The patients were checked for all kinds of dental issues before and after their surgeries or diets, and the results were clear: despite brushing and flossing regularly, their dental health went downhill, and fast.
This was especially true for those who had the surgery. Some of the scientific tests showed that the natural balance of their mouth was off, making it easier for bad bacteria to thrive and cause problems.
Why did this happen? The researchers believe it’s because of the big changes in the patients’ diet. After weight loss surgery, people tend to eat softer, puréed foods that stick to their teeth.
They also often eat more frequently but don’t brush more often. This creates a perfect environment for dental issues.
Why This Matters
Weight loss surgery has become increasingly common, especially in Brazil where over 300,000 of these surgeries were done from 2017 to 2022.
The healthcare teams that look after these patients usually include doctors, dieticians, and even psychologists, but not dentists. That’s a problem, given what this study has found.
What’s Next?
If you or someone you know is considering weight loss surgery, this study suggests that taking care of your teeth should be part of your overall plan.
The researchers say that dentists should be included in the healthcare teams for these surgeries, and they are looking into ways to prevent these dental issues from happening in the first place.
This is about more than just keeping your smile bright. Bad dental health can lead to other problems, from painful toothaches to more serious infections.
As the study’s lead researcher, Paula Midori Castelo Ferrua, pointed out, we need to think about creating special dental care guidelines for people undergoing weight loss surgery.
So, the next steps are clear. More research needs to be done to find out the best ways to keep these patients’ mouths healthy. These could include straightforward measures like using fluoride or more advanced dental treatments.
The ultimate goal? To make sure that people who are trying to improve their health by losing weight don’t end up facing a whole new set of problems in their mouths.
If you care about dental health, please see recent studies about diabetes and gum disease, and results showing this diet could help treat gum disease.
For more information about weight loss, please see recent studies that Mediterranean diet can reduce belly fat much better, and Keto diet could help control body weight and blood sugar in diabetes.
The research findings can be found in the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation.
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