Oral health affects the entire body — Yet it’s still treated separately from healthcare

Oral health is one of the most important factors in overall physical health. Decades of research have made that clear.

Yet in Swedish healthcare, oral health is still treated as something detached from the rest of the body. The result is more infections, more complications, and a growing risk of antibiotic resistance.

The debate about declining dental visits among young adults highlights how fragile the system is. As costs rise, preventive care drops off, and problems surface much later — often as medical complications. But this goes beyond dental policy. It’s about how Sweden organizes its healthcare system — and ultimately about the health of the population.

Major risks linked to oral health

The research is unequivocal: plaque, inflammation, and bacterial imbalance in the mouth affect the heart, blood vessels, and brain. People under 50 with untreated gum inflammation face twice the risk of stroke. Oral bacteria have been found in the brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Periodontitis complicates diabetes management. Imbalances in the oral microbiome influence gut flora and therefore gut health. For pregnant women, the risk of premature birth increases.

This is well-established medical knowledge. Still, the mouth remains outside the medical risk assessment for precisely those patients who would benefit most from a holistic perspective. In practice, dental and medical care treat the same patient — with the same infections and risk factors — without communicating with each other. A person may receive regular monitoring for cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or cancer without anyone asking about their oral health. That is not just inefficient. It is dangerous.

Antibiotic resistance is the real threat

Antibiotic resistance is one of our greatest medical threats. The World Health Organization warns that effective antibiotics could be unavailable within 10–15 years. When that happens, routine procedures and treatments will become difficult or impossible to carry out.

Oral health must be part of that discussion. A significant share of infections requiring antibiotics originate in the mouth. This is already evident today: peri-implantitis is one of the fastest-growing infectious diagnoses, implant surgery drives antibiotic prescribing in many countries, and cancer patients with mucositis suffer recurring secondary infections. Periodontal infections return between clinical visits because the preventive chain simply does not hold.

Asking healthcare providers to write fewer prescriptions will not solve the problem. The infections themselves must decrease. The key is a modern system for infection prevention — not more options for infection treatment. New approaches such as photodynamic therapy, objective treatment adherence monitoring, clear home-care protocols, and structured implant protocols can reduce bacterial load and ease the burden on healthcare.

If we fail to build these structures now, we will be unprepared when antibiotics stop working — and by then it will be too late.

A new system for infection prevention

This is where Swedish healthcare falls short. Diagnostics are strong and surgery is advanced, but we lack the structures needed to prevent infections. This is especially true in oral health, where current practice relies heavily on patients maintaining results between visits without sufficient support, follow-up, or technical tools.

A modern system would include:

• Integrated guidelines between dental and medical care for at-risk groups
• Photodynamic therapy (PDT) to reduce bacterial load without antibiotics
• MDR-approved systems that objectively track treatment adherence
• Implant protocols that lower bacterial levels before, during, and after surgery
• Structured home-care routines that keep infections at bay between visits

There is no shortage of technology or knowledge. What is missing is an organization that treats the mouth as part of human biology.

Time for a systemic shift

Sweden’s healthcare system is advanced in many respects. But the division between dental and medical care is a legacy from a time before we understood how infections work. Today we know better. Oral health must be integrated into medical decision-making, especially for patients with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer treatment, immunosuppression, implants, and pregnancy.

The debate about young people’s dental care shows how vulnerable the system is. We cannot afford to let preventive care fall through the cracks — not when the consequences extend far beyond the mouth.

Sweden needs to break down silos and build a modern system for infection prevention, both in clinics and at home. This is a matter of public health, economic sustainability, and resilience against future medical threats. The mouth is part of the body. It is time for healthcare to take that seriously.

Peter Radqvist, CEO of Koite Health