The rising hyperlinks between our oral effectively being and this host of various conditions has a extremely necessary upshot: it is simple to lower your menace of getting periodontitis, and to cope with it efficiently if you already have it.

“If we brush our enamel accurately and have good oral hygiene, then most likely we’re capable of cease the onset of periodontitis,” says Wu.

If the sickness does set in, then throughout the early ranges it could be dealt with with scaling and root planing, which scrapes microbes off the lower tooth flooring above and slightly below the gum line. You most likely have extreme periodontitis, the reply would possibly embrace surgical treatment, “which suggests you loosen the tender tissue of the gums and clear the inspiration surfaces, and put the tissue once more”, says Holmstrup.

The problem is detection, due to the sickness’s usually symptomless nature coupled with the widespread misunderstanding that besides you should have excessive tooth ache, you needn’t go to the dentist. The reply there’s as soon as simpler: in case you are due an appointment, don’t delay.

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Throughout the forthcoming second part of this two-part story, BBC Future examines the perfect evidence-based strategies to brush your enamel – and stay away from this cohort of energy sicknesses.

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Martha Henriques is Editor of BBC Future Planetand tweets at @Martha_Rosamund

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