When it comes to taking care of your body and taking control of your health, there are many things you can do to improve yourself, both mentally and physically. Whether you visit a therapist to improve your mental health, a cardiologist to improve your heart health, or even visit a spa for a relaxing massage, there are myriad ways you can take care of yourself every day.
When it comes to weight loss, however, that can often be easier said than done. Sure, everyone tells you that it’s about discipline and that diet and exercise are your keys to losing weight and lowering your BMI, but for some people, it’s not that easy. Genetics, medications, illnesses and metabolic issues can all slow the progress of a healthy diet and exercise and leave you feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.
Thankfully, there are options for those struggling to lose significant weight. One such solution is known as bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery is a category of surgical procedures performed on the intestines or stomach to aid weight loss. Though it is not for everyone, upwards of 580,000 people worldwide undergo bariatric surgery each year.
Bariatric surgery is a highly effective and safe surgery for those who meet specific criteria. Following bariatric surgery, patients can expect to improve not just their health, but also their quality of life. But a new study has found that those who have undergone bariatric procedures are at an increased risk of one particularly troublesome health problem: dental caries, or cavities.
According to a thesis published at the University of Gothenburg, having bariatric surgery has been found to correlate to a higher chance of developing dental caries and experiencing poor oral health.
The University of Gothenburg study observed a group of 118 patients with BMIs higher than 40 before and after their bariatric surgery or medical treatment. The researchers then observed data two years after the weight-loss treatment. They found that patients who underwent bariatric surgery went from an average of 15 caries to 19.1 caries on the surface of their teeth. For those who received medical treatment that did not include bariatric surgery, their total amount of dental caries decreased over that same period.
Furthermore, many of the dental caries on the bariatric surgery patients were deeper lesions, with a pre-surgical average of 4.3 lesions. Two years later, those caries increased to an average of 6.4 lesions, while the control group had 4.9 deeper caries.
So, what are the key takeaways from this study? It’s certainly not to avoid bariatric surgery, which can be highly beneficial, if not life saving, to the patient. Though there was no clear hypothesis presented in the study, it would appear that patients who undergo traditional weight-loss programs that require regular medical attention, such as follow-up visits, weight monitoring, medication dispensing and other medical interventions, are more likely to care for their oral health than those who undergo bariatric surgery procedures.
While the reasons for this are not precisely known, it could be that, following bariatric surgery, patients are not followed up with as frequently as other patients once their initial healing period has been completed. In contrast, other patients may still need to be treated weekly or monthly to continue their weight-loss program.
So, what else can we learn from the University of Gothenburg study? For starters, it is essential to maintain oral health, regardless of weight, height, BMI or age. Caring for your oral health includes:
Furthermore, attending regular physician appointments is essential, especially when undergoing a weight-loss program, whether it be bariatric surgery, weight-loss medication or a more traditional means of weight loss such as a diet and exercise program. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that now that you have lost the weight, you no longer need to take care of your oral and overall health!
Finally, it is a lesson for the medical community to encourage patients to return for regular wellness checkups following surgical procedures to help patients stay on track with their health and well-being.
If you are undergoing or have undergone bariatric surgery, congratulations. Keep up the great work with a visit to Breathe Modern Dentistry, and keep your mouth in fighting shape, too!