Dental Health and Celiac Disease: What You Need to Know Ep. 192

Did you know that celiac disease can impact your dental health?

In this episode, I uncover the lesser-known oral implications of celiac disease and how they can affect you or your child. From enamel defects and delayed tooth eruption to recurring mouth ulcers and gum issues, we explore the signs that could be linked to untreated celiac disease. Whether you're looking to protect your teeth or raise awareness, this episode sheds light on the importance of oral care for those living with celiac disease.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Now many people understand what happens with celiac disease as far as signs and symptoms go, but not many people talk about the implications of what happens within your mouth when we're talking about dental and oral care and on today's show I'm talking about some of those implications and how we can go about avoiding them and making sure that we have strong, healthy teeth now and well into the future so when we talk about implications with our dental health and our oral health, this relates back a lot to untreated celiac disease. So in the early days, if just say you know you lived with celiac disease for a very, very long time before you got diagnosed, so let's just say you were struggling with symptoms, you may find that you have terrible teeth and you've never put this together, you've never figured out that it's actually related to having celiac disease. So I want to talk about that on today's show and shed some light on it, mostly because I want to share awareness around this topic. Some people have told me that they have gone and got a celiac disease diagnosis, all thanks to their dentist, having an awareness about celiac disease and realizing that the problems that they were having within their mouth and because of celiac disease to their teeth, the problems being caused to their teeth, of celiac disease to their teeth, the problems being caused to their teeth. And, yeah, the dentist said you need to go get tested for celiac disease. Lo and behold, went and got tested and, yes, got a celiac disease diagnosis. So I think that's incredible and the more people that know about this, the more people we can help.

Speaker 1: 2:05

Now, when we talk about this, it does actually happen, more so in the younger years to children. So those problems with teeth start in the younger years. Now what has been studied is delayed, I guess, tooth eruption I guess that's probably the easiest way to say it. So baby teeth and adult teeth. So your first teeth are your baby teeth and some children that have already got celiac disease but it's undiagnosed. Their teeth will not actually come through at a normal state. So if a child has, you know, not got any baby teeth for a long time, that could be a sign of celiac disease. Can you believe that? And it's all linked to malnutrition. So the body's not absorbing the nutrients. As you probably know, when you have celiac disease your body is not absorbing all those beautiful nutrients from the food, so it causes issues with those teeth coming through. But the problem is also when those baby teeth fall out. The adult teeth are delayed coming through, so it can cause problems there as well. So this is just something you know in your day-to-day life. If you hear people talking about their kids and teeth, you might be like whoa, hang on a minute.

Speaker 1: 3:29

This is what Belinda was talking about on the podcast, and you can recommend them go get tested for celiac disease. It's so, so important. This is a big one that I struggled with and that was mouth ulcers or cankers. So in my very early days that was a huge symptom for me was getting constant mouth ulcers, and for those few times I have accidentally been glutened, I definitely get mouth ulcers and they are painful. So if you know someone that gets ongoing mouth ulcers but they don't have gastrointestinal issues, it could be another link to celiac disease. So something to talk about and to recommend people get tested for.

Speaker 1: 4:12

The next one is a dry mouth. So a dry mouth can be due to nutrient deficiencies, and when people with undiagnosed celiac disease have a dry mouth, they have an increased risk of tooth decay and gum disease, so it can cause further issues down the line. So, again, one of those things that how many people would be walking around with a dry mouth and no one would think to say, hey, go get tested for celiac disease. So, again, awareness and knowing these little signs and symptoms that can lead us down that path. And the next one is gingivitis and gum disease. So these are due to chronic inflammation in the body, so red, swollen, painful gums and not being able to link that to anything. That is another problem from untreated celiac disease within the mouth and to do with oral health.

Speaker 1: 5:07

One of the most recognized oral problems due to undiagnosed celiac disease is actually dental enamel defects, so problems to do with the actual teeth. So problems can include discoloration of the teeth, so like yellowing, brown marks spotting on the teeth, problems like that, also grooves in the teeth or pitting. You can see in in children. They'll have big grooves in their teeth. Big pits out of their teeth can be a big, big problem. They can also have thin or weak enamel which can cause further issues such as breakage. And then another one is undeveloped enamel and it can be completely absent. So, as you can well imagine, this is not something that people want to be dealing with. This is actually can be a game changer for their smile for the way that they eat and chew, so it can lead to further, further implications. So definitely something to keep an eye on.

Speaker 1: 6:04

Especially if you have celiac disease and you have children, make sure you get them tested for celiac disease. Make sure you're keeping an eye on their dental hygiene and their health within their mouth because, like I said, these are so many issues that can be linked back to celiac disease. Now, ongoing problems that can happen because of these issues is obviously that appearance and increased cavities. So people that have got these problems can also have really sensitive teeth. So it's important to make sure that you are seeking medical advice. As far as going to the dentist regularly, keeping on top of your celiac disease If you already have diagnosed celiac disease and making sure you are visiting your dentist on a regular basis I go six monthly. Your dentist might recommend a different timeframe, but if you're going regularly and you're keeping an eye on your teeth, then you can make sure that you don't have any of these issues.

Speaker 1: 7:00

If you're not keeping to a strict gluten-free diet, you may find that you have health issues with your teeth as well and making sure that you're keeping on top of your nutrition, because the thing with talking about those teeth problems. It does link back to malnutrition and it does link back to those problems where we're not having enough of all the vitamins and the minerals that our teeth need to be healthy. Because, as you know, celiac disease is a whole body thing and can cause so many problems within the body. So if you are not getting the nutrients that your body needs to thrive, it will show up with problems in your teeth. It will be one of those things that you will have ongoing issues with. So make sure you stick to your gluten-free diet, make sure you're getting your children tested if you have celiac disease, as I mentioned, and look after your teeth, because they're so, so important for ongoing health.

Speaker 1: 7:55

And you know my mom, she's got celiac disease. She had all of her teeth pulled out. She had dreadful teeth and she won't. She won't feel bad towards me for saying this because it's true. She had so many broken, she had missing teeth, she had broken teeth, she had cracked teeth, she had really yellow teeth and in the end it was too much to try and fix her smile and fix her teeth that she had them all pulled out and she now wears dentures and probably you know, up until she got celiac disease, she had no idea why her out of her family of eight children. She grew up in a family of eight None of them had issues with their teeth, except for my mom, and she was the one that went on and had got celiac disease. So it's likely linked that all of her dental issues go way back to her childhood of malnourishment and not getting the nutrients that she needed and not thriving with celiac disease. So it does happen. My mom is a you know a pure example of what does happen with untreated celiac disease. So it does happen. My mom is a you know, a pure example of what does happen with untreated celiac disease and what can happen with your mouth and your teeth and your gums.

Speaker 1: 9:05

So yeah, I hope that it. I hope that kind of enlightens you a little bit more about celiac disease and helps you understand that is way more than just what's going on in our small intestine. It's way more than what's just going on in our gut. So yeah, just wanted to share that with you today. I hope that's interesting for you. I hope you can take something away from this episode, whether that's to help someone else or just to keep an eye on your own dental health or to keep an eye on your kids' dental health. So thank you so much for tuning in and I look forward to sharing more with you on the show next week.