Pulmonary Actinomycosis: A Lung Infection Due To Poor Oral Hygiene

By Author: Joshua Su
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A study reveals that oral diseases are the most common, non-communicable diseases that affect people throughout their lifetime, causing pain, discomfort, disfigurement and even death. The most common reason for oral related diseases is poor oral hygiene. Dentist Parramatta says that a tooth infection can quickly spread to other parts of your body.

A tooth infection can affect your brain’s blood vessels, leading to a brain abscess and your heart develops bacterial endocarditis. Thus your lung is not an exception. It also gets infected by the oral bacterial leading to conditions like bronchitis and pneumonia. This article explains in details about one of the conditions, the Pulmonary Actinomycosis that occurs in your lungs, due to lack of oral hygiene.

What is Pulmonary Actinomycosis?

Pulmonary Actinomycosis is caused by bacteria usually found in your mouth and gastrointestinal tract. Both the poor dental hygiene and tooth abscess can increase your risk for this lung infection caused by these bacteria.

The damaged tissue that occurs due to gum diseases is the source for bacteria. These bacteria get mixed with food or secretions from the mouth or stomach and end up in the lungs leading to such a fatal lung disease.

What Are The Risk Factors?

Persons with the following conditions are at the risk of Pulmonary Actinomycosis,

- Dental abscess

- Poor oral hygiene

- The person suffering from chronic obstructive lung disease

- Alcohol addicts

Symptoms of Pulmonary Actinomycosis

Common signs for Pulmonary Actinomycosis include the following,

- Fever and fatigue

- Weight loss

- Difficulty while inhaling

- Loss of appetite

- Phlegm with blood during cough

How Is Pulmonary Actinomycosis Diagnosed?

When you have any of the above-mentioned symptoms your emergency dentist Parramatta performs the following tests to confirm the diagnoses,

- CT scans Or X-Ray – Based on the severity of the diseases your dentist suggest either an X-ray or CT scan for the detection of any abnormalities.

- Sputum Culture – In the sputum culture the presence of bacteria or the infection is detected.

- Blood Count Test – This test aids in the detection of disease, if present.

- Lung biopsy – A piece of the lung tissue is taken for the detection of any contamination.

Prevention of Pulmonary Actinomycosis

Proper oral hygiene lowers the risk of Pulmonary Actinomycosis. So the dentist of the Parramatta dental clinic advises the following routine to prevent this fatal lung disease,

- Have a proper diet

- Brush and floss your teeth regularly

- Avoid sugary and acidic foods

Thus, the healthier your mouth, healthier will be your lungs.

The author is a blogger and Dentist Parramatta who offers services like wisdom teeth removal, dental implants and many more. For further details visit https://www.curedental.com.au/

Cure Dental provides its patients with a wide-ranging dental treatments intended to improve their dental health and wellbeing in Parramatta. Maintaining oral health is incredibly important to overall wellbeing, as it can keep you from having a variety of problems including tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath and tooth loss. Whilst we provide a service that intends to help eliminate or prevent these issues, we also provide a range of other dental care options including orthodontics, cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, crowns and bridges, and children’s dentistry.