What you’ve heard is true, good oral hygiene just may save your life!
Your parents were right when they told you that brushing and flossing every morning and night mattered, but you probably did not know they did this much.
Numerous studies have been conducted on the link between oral health and other serious medical conditions, more so on the fact that periodontal disease and gingivitis are too often the causes of high blood pressure, heart disease, and even diabetes.
A Healthy Smile means a Healthy Heart
Although it could be scary to think about, this should be a wake-up call for everyone who has or is currently neglecting their mouths, as the correlations are strong and have raised a lot of concern in the medical community. This is why it’s imperative that you always keep your teeth clean and healthy.
A mouth full of pearly whites is your first line of defense against harmful bacteria and pathogens. This is simply because keeping food particles off the surface of your teeth forestalls plaque buildup, which is the leading cause of tooth decay and the associated negative oral health conditions that can come along with it.
Doctors have found that people who brush their teeth more often and on a regular basis are far less likely to develop heart disease, and that also extends to cardiac arrest. Of the patient’s studies, the ones who stated they do not keep up on good oral hygiene as much as they should had a 70% higher risk of having heart problems.
As you can imagine, people who smoke, have bad nutrition, and do not perform regular exercise are on the highest end of the spectrum as far as risk factors are concerned. The same goes for those who have a genetic history of heart issues; if any one of these applies to you, then you will definitely want to schedule routine dental check-ups.
Twice a year visits are the norm, but in a perfect world, quarterly visits to the will result in spotting problematic issues sooner. The worse a person’s oral hygiene, the more toxins they put into their bloodstream (the main ones being inflammatory C-reactive protein and fibrinogen). Of course, brushing and flossing alone are not enough to oust all the germs. Mouthwash is essential for sanitizing your entire mouth, teeth, gums and all!