As a diabetic, you have plenty of concerns on your mind. You need to keep track of your A1C sugar levels as well as do the same body-care tasks as everyone else: exercise regularly, drink lots of water, get good sleep, maintain a healthy weight, and more. You might not initially think your dental insurance benefits can help you better manage diabetes, but if you haven’t taken full advantage of your coverage this year yet, now—before the end of the year—is the time to get it done! How can these benefits affect your condition? Keep reading to find out!
How Are Diabetes and Oral Health Issues Related?
At first glance, these two problems may seem completely separate, but they share one important cause: too much sugar. Your A1C sugar levels can be spiked if you consume excess sugar or carbohydrates. While this occurs inside your body, your mouth also suffers because these substances feed oral bacteria that irritate and infect your gum tissue. Without treatment, these bacteria spread to the jawbone, deteriorating the support and stability a healthy mouth requires.
In addition to having a common root cause, diabetes and gum disease impact each other directly. A person who has improperly managed diabetes is much more likely to contract infections like gum disease and struggle to overcome them. Likewise, for some patients who regularly battle gum disease, they may unknowingly suffer from diabetes until the dentist brings up this possibility.
How Can Using My Dental Insurance Benefits Help My Diabetes?
Although your dental insurance benefits won’t pay for insulin, medication, or other medical treatments, they will help control connected infection in your mouth. Every year, your policy covers two preventive visits consisting of a professional cleaning and checkup from the dentist. While at-home hygiene is undoubtedly essential to limit plaque development, even diligent brushers and flossers can leave this white, bacteria-filled substance behind. Professional cleanings can remove hardened plaque you’ve missed and cut off infection before it causes permanent damage to your smile.
If you do find your oral health in poor shape, treatment is certainly possible to stop the infection and rebuild your jawbone and gum tissue. However, your insurance benefits won’t contribute as much to the overall cost of this more intensive care. Coverage focuses on and encourages prevention and early intervention of gum disease because they are cheaper and easier to do than treat gum disease afterward. The same concept applies to diabetes itself! If you can correctly manage your diabetes or prevent it in the first place, the less trouble and cost you’ll face in keeping yourself healthy and strong.
On top of cutting back on carbs and sugar, maintaining excellent oral health through regular care can help your body overall. In other words, to keep your entire well-being functioning smoothly, make sure you have both preventive dental visits your insurance entitles you to before the year runs out and your benefits reset.
About the Practice
Dentistry at Hickory Flat in Canton gladly will work with basically any PPO dental insurance and is even in-network with many of the common ones. We do this because our four dentists and the rest of our team believe oral health shouldn’t consume a huge part of patients’ budgets. If you don’t have dental insurance benefits through your job, we offer discounts and special offers on certain services. Also, our flexible financing allows you to pay for treatment over time instead of entirely upfront. Do you have questions about cost or insurance? Contact our office online or call our team at 770-213-8166.