Lyme Disease and Dental Health
Causes of Lyme disease
This disease comes from the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It is transmitted into human beings most commonly through the blacklegged tick bite. Some of the Lyme disease symptoms entail fatigue, headache, skin rashes referred to as erythema migrans, and fever. If Lyme disease is not treated, the infection could spread into the joints, nervous system, and the heart. The diagnosis of Lyme disease is the physical findings of disease symptoms such as the rash and the likelihood of being exposed to the infected ticks. Lab tests are only helpful when executed using validated methods and executed meticulously.
It is possible to treat most Lyme disease cases successfully using some antibiotics taken for a few weeks. Some of the ways through which Lyme disease could be prevented include the use of insect repellant, application of pesticides, removing ticks whenever noticed, and alleviating tick habitation using prescribed methods. Lyme disease transmitting ticks could as well transmit a number of tick-borne diseases.
Lyme disease prevalence
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) documents close to 30,000 Lyme disease cases every year. This is not representative of every diagnosed case of Lyme disease. According to the CDC’s estimates, the prevalence of Lyme disease is approximately 329,000 cases every year. According to some doctors Lyme disease is more prevalent in males aged fifteen years and below and males who are aged between forty and sixty years. Victims of Lyme disease are usually people who often partake in activities such as hiking or camping.
Dentist’s perspective of Lyme disease
Lyme disease is a big problem – much more than just a small tick bite, a small scratch, or some little rash. It can interfere with a person’s entire system and cause them to have symptoms that have painful consequences that can remain for a long period of time. Often most Lyme disease symptoms are concentrated in the mouth region. This may cause many people to consider themselves as having dental infections instead of realizing that they suffer from a condition that is totally different from what they imagined. The important thing to find out is why the Lyme disease has symptoms that appear to concentrate more on the mouth.
According to some dentists Lyme disease, different from any other health issues, can in actual sense feed and grow from body infections. This essentially means that where there is some other type of infection, Lyme disease will attack and worsen the situation. It is a perfect opportunity for the disease to spread further. This fact coupled with the fact that most people live with plaque, tooth decay, and gum disease makes it significantly necessary that Lyme disease victims must pay particular attention to their oral hygiene.
The quicker Lyme disease patients comprehend this, the better and faster they realize benefits. They can deal with infection problems inside the mouth much better therefore putting Lyme disease symptoms under their control. Having a proficient dentist knowledgeable about Lyme disease will help the patient realize gradual recovery from the painful symptoms of Lyme disease.
