world oral health day is celebrated every year on march 20 as declared by the fdi world dental federation it is an international day to celebrate the benefits of a healthy mouth to promote worldwide awareness of issues pertaining to oral health and to highlight the importance of oral hygiene the theme this year is it all starts here healthy mouth healthy bodyoral health refers to the health of the mouth which includes the teeth gums and supporting tissues taking good care of these tissues can prevent disease in them and in turn protect ones general health good oral healthwhich implies better oral hygieneis crucial to living a comfortable life gum disease periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent diseases and also the major cause of tooth loss statistics show that approximately 95 of the adult population in india suffers from gum disease the american dental association found that advanced gum disease or periodontitis is related to diseases of the body and determined that people with advanced gum disease are 40 more likely to have a chronic health conditiongum disease is primarily caused by plaque a colourless sticky film that builds up on the teeth and contains different types of bacteria if plaque is allowed to accumulate it begins to calcify and develops into a hard coating in the form of calculus or tartar early symptoms may include gum swelling bleeding gums tenderness over the gums and bad breath at this point gums may be loose but are still attached high on the teeth this inflammation of the gums is called gingivitis and is the first stage of gum disease when gingivitis is left untreated calculus slowly begins to break down the gum and bone support of the teeth leading to formation of a periodontal pocket between teeth and gums it is followed by bone destruction this advanced stage is called periodontitis as the disease progresses more amount of bone gets destroyed the teeth loosen and eventually fall out or may need to be extracted periodontal disease is often silent meaning symptoms may not appear until an advanced stage also there are associations between it and certain other systemic conditionsheart disease individuals with severe periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease as those with healthy gums it is believed that bacteria from inflamed gums can enter the bloodstream and stimulate production of certain proteins that can affect the heart by causing blood platelets to stick together leading to clot formation thickening of the arteries atherosclerosis can lead to obstruction of blood flow resulting in heart attack or stroke studies have also established that aggressive treatment of gum disease can reduce the incidence of atherosclerosisdiabetes diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin resulting in increased blood sugar level gum disease is considered as one of the leading complications of diabetes the link between diabetes and periodontal disease is a twoway relationship where diabetes increases incidence and severity