What are Autoimmune Diseases and its Effect on Oral Health?

Autoimmune Diseases

These are lesions of organs in a person’s body due to a disorder in the immune system. When an individual's immune system does not perform well or cause any reaction in the body, then the tissues of a specific part of the body gets suffer cause different autoimmune diseases. Moreover, there is no ultimate treatment available to cure or eradicate the disease, doctors can only control the symptoms or minimize the reactions through medications. Some of the conditions develop the cavity in the teeth and affect the entire oral health.



The immune system of the person is responsible for the defense of the human body from invading microorganisms and diseases. However, when the immune system pounces the cells and tissues of any body’s organ, then it causes autoimmune disorders. A patient may feel dizziness, lethargic, fatigued, and moderate fever when he/she suffers from an autoimmune disease. According to the Office of the Women’s Health, around 23.5 million people in the United States are distressed with at least one autoimmune disease. However, women are at greater peril of attaining an autoimmune disease. Moreover, the primary reasons for such disorders are hormonal changes in an individual’s body and heredity too. However, the consequences can turn into some worst conditions, but sometimes they do not bother a person too much. However, many autoimmune diseases affect oral health and cause any problem for the person.

Autoimmune Disease That Affects Saliva



Sjogren's syndrome is an autoimmune disorder. According to a report of the Medscape, approximately 90% of the women are suffering from these diseases. Moreover, almost 3% of females are above the age of 50. In this condition, the immune cells attack your own body’s healthy tissues and cells by mistake and create chaos in the body. As a result of this accidental attack of the immune cells, the patient may suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. Moreover, the condition pounces the glands and the aftermaths of this attack are dryness of the eyes, mouth, and other tissues in the body. People who got troubled with Sjogren's syndrome may face pain and stress in eating, chewing, and swallowing. The consistency of the saliva becomes thick and develop many other oral problems. Sometimes, the patient cannot produce the saliva which is a necessary element for grinding of the food. It will also affect the taste buds and develop afflict during the speaking. It can also increase the dental cavity and plaque.

Autoimmune Disease That Affects Mouth

When the immune system of a person gets disturbed or cause any trouble in the body, then some Crohn’s diseases may develop. Some of them hit the gastrointestinal tract. Such kind of conditions usually appears in patients between the age of 20 to 30. However, in a few cases, they may exhibit in the late 60s or 70s. Moreover, the percentage of the mouth or GI tract disease due to the dysfunctional immune system is 8 to 29. Well, these diseases display their symptoms in the mouth of an individual. A patient will have swelling gums, canker sores in the gums and mouth, swelling in the lips, and ulcer in the mouth. It will affect your speaking and eating, as it will give you intense pain in the oral area.

 Moreover, another autoimmune disease that can damage the skin, joints, and kidneys is systemic lupus erythematosus. In this condition, an individual feels fever, sudden weight loss, and pain in different parts of the body.



Autoimmune Disease That Affects Swallowing

Due to the autoimmune disorder, an individual may develop Hashimoto's disease. It causes inflammation in the thyroid and the patient will have intense pain and problem in swallowing. The infection appears due to the underactive thyroid glands. This is another autoimmune disease that develops more in women than men. Moreover, it hits middle-age females. It will cause facial swelling, weakness, fatigue, intense pain in the throat, and sensitivity to cold.

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