Healthy mouth, healthy body: Are dental caries the harbinger of metabolic disease?

Dental caries is an easily identifiable marker of poor metabolic health. The proposed model of dental caries aetiology portrays the caries process as both a local response and systemic hormonal and metabolic responses to diet-driven mitochondrial dysfunction and metabolic dysregulation. The prevention of dental caries through the life course should become a global healthcare priority and may assist in the prevention of chronic disease through the lifespan.