{"id":127,"date":"2018-04-08T20:40:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T20:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ps-smiles.com\/blog\/?p=127"},"modified":"2018-05-08T20:54:38","modified_gmt":"2018-05-08T20:54:38","slug":"nashville-dentist-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-128\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Close up view of unhealthy gums\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08.jpg 358w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>As any Nashville dentist will tell you, \u201cOnly floss the teeth you want to keep.\u201d Well, it turns out that flossing can do much more than help you keep your teeth \u2013 it might actually lower your risk for cancer!<\/p>\n<p>There have been many studies done over the last 20 years that have shown a link between the gums and the rest of the body, including the heart. More recently, studies have also shown that gum disease increases the risk of developing cancer. It\u2019s never been more clear that gum disease must be taken seriously! Keep reading to learn more about what gum disease is, common sign and symptoms, and more about its link to cancer. You\u2019ll also find out the best way to prevent or treat this condition!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>What Is Gum Disease?<\/h2>\n<p>Gum disease is caused by inflammation in the mouth that attacks the gum tissue and underlying bone. These tissues support the teeth and keep them in place, so in advanced cases, the teeth can be become loose and fall out.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of the signs and symptoms of gum disease:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bleeding, red or tender gums<\/strong> \u2013 In the first stage, called gingivitis, the gums may bleed after brushing or flossing, or could feel tender or swollen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Persistent bad breath <\/strong>\u2013 When the \u201cpockets\u201d around the teeth become deeper, they collect bacteria and tartar that\u2019s difficult or impossible to remove. These bacteria cause further inflammation <em>and<\/em> contribute to bad breath.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Loose teeth<\/strong> \u2013 If a significant amount of bone around the teeth has been lost, the teeth may feel loose or start to move while chewing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you notice any of these symptoms, schedule a checkup with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/preventive-dentistry.html\">family dentist in Nashville<\/a> for an evaluation.<\/p>\n<h2>Can Gum Disease Increase Your Risk of Cancer and Other Health Problems?<\/h2>\n<p>Researchers have found a lot of evidence in the last two decades that gum disease is linked to a host of other health problems. The connection to cancer was discovered more recently.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, an online article in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2018\/01\/180116111145.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science Daily<\/a> reviews a recent 2018 study in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. It confirms what several other studies have shown and found that patients with severe gum disease had a 24% increase in risk of developing cancer. Specifically, the risk for lung cancer and colon cancer were the highest.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the potential effects of gum disease don\u2019t end there. There is well-established research showing a link with these conditions as well:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Heart disease<\/li>\n<li>Diabetes<\/li>\n<li>Pregnancy Complications<\/li>\n<li>Stroke<\/li>\n<li>Alzeheimer\u2019s<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How Can You Prevent or Treat Gum Disease?<\/h2>\n<p>By keeping your gums happy and healthy, you can not only prevent gum disease but ultimately keep your entire body healthier as well.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing a dentist in Nashville regularly is the best way to stay on top of your gum health. Not only will you be screened for gum disease annually, but you\u2019ll get the benefits of a professional cleaning as well. And it goes without saying that practicing good hygiene habits at home is crucial to preventing or managing gum disease.<\/p>\n<p>The risks that go along with gum disease are downright scary. But with these guidelines, you can reduce these risks and enjoy good health for life!<\/p>\n<h2>About the Author<\/h2>\n<p>At Green Hills Dental Center, Dr. James Kirby understands that oral health impacts more than just the teeth and gums \u2013 it impacts the entire body. He always closely monitors his patients for gum disease and offers outstanding treatments for every stage of the condition. If you have any questions, he can be contacted via his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/contact-us.html\">website<\/a> or at (615) 823-8247.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As any Nashville dentist will tell you, \u201cOnly floss the teeth you want to keep.\u201d Well, it turns out that flossing can do much more than help you keep your teeth \u2013 it might actually lower your risk for cancer! There have been many studies done over the last 20 years that have shown a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You might be surprised to learn that recent studies have found a link between gum disease and cancer! Keep reading as a Nashville dentist explains more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You might be surprised to learn that recent studies have found a link between gum disease and cancer! Keep reading as a Nashville dentist explains more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Green Hills Dental Center Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-08T20:40:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-08T20:54:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tntadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tntadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"tntadmin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02ef445c67d54c06219ee7a1cc0040e8\"},\"headline\":\"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-08T20:40:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-08T20:54:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":607,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-08T20:40:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-05-08T20:54:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02ef445c67d54c06219ee7a1cc0040e8\"},\"description\":\"You might be surprised to learn that recent studies have found a link between gum disease and cancer! Keep reading as a Nashville dentist explains more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/image-2018-05-08.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/image-2018-05-08.jpg\",\"width\":358,\"height\":239,\"caption\":\"Close up view of unhealthy gums\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/nashville-dentist-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Green Hills Dental Center Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02ef445c67d54c06219ee7a1cc0040e8\",\"name\":\"tntadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6f4095f8e72e2e24d12fb83b32d96ddbfc81953fbaa486bd4787fda201af2c1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6f4095f8e72e2e24d12fb83b32d96ddbfc81953fbaa486bd4787fda201af2c1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6f4095f8e72e2e24d12fb83b32d96ddbfc81953fbaa486bd4787fda201af2c1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tntadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/tntadmin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!","description":"You might be surprised to learn that recent studies have found a link between gum disease and cancer! Keep reading as a Nashville dentist explains more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!","og_description":"You might be surprised to learn that recent studies have found a link between gum disease and cancer! Keep reading as a Nashville dentist explains more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/","og_site_name":"Green Hills Dental Center Blog","article_published_time":"2018-04-08T20:40:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-05-08T20:54:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"tntadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tntadmin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/"},"author":{"name":"tntadmin","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/02ef445c67d54c06219ee7a1cc0040e8"},"headline":"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!","datePublished":"2018-04-08T20:40:51+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-08T20:54:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/"},"wordCount":607,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/","name":"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2018-04-08T20:40:51+00:00","dateModified":"2018-05-08T20:54:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/02ef445c67d54c06219ee7a1cc0040e8"},"description":"You might be surprised to learn that recent studies have found a link between gum disease and cancer! Keep reading as a Nashville dentist explains more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/image-2018-05-08.jpg","width":358,"height":239,"caption":"Close up view of unhealthy gums"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/nashville-dentist-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Gum Disease and Cancer Linked? A Nashville Dentist Says Yes!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/","name":"Green Hills Dental Center Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/02ef445c67d54c06219ee7a1cc0040e8","name":"tntadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f4095f8e72e2e24d12fb83b32d96ddbfc81953fbaa486bd4787fda201af2c1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f4095f8e72e2e24d12fb83b32d96ddbfc81953fbaa486bd4787fda201af2c1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f4095f8e72e2e24d12fb83b32d96ddbfc81953fbaa486bd4787fda201af2c1c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tntadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/author\/tntadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenhillsdentalcenter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}