If fresh breath is not enough incentive for you to want to brush and floss, I am here to offer another incentive. Studies have shown that people with gum disease have two to three times the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious heart issues. This has led scientists to conclude that gum disease and heart disease may be linked. I don’t know about you, but as a fifty-one-year-old woman with an enlarged aorta, I am all for doing anything that may protect my quality of life.
Scientists are still working to understand this potential link, but here are two possible explanations that caught my attention.
- The bad mouth bacteria that cause gingivitis and periodontitis travel to your body’s blood vessels and cause them to become damaged and inflamed.
- The inflammation (a natural immune response) may be wreaking havoc on the body.
As I said, scientists are still working to understand. But there is nothing that prevents us from being proactive when it comes to caring for our bodies. So, in addition to all the other things you should be doing to protect your heart, why not add two more things to the list?
- flossing and brushing at least twice a day
- trips to the dentist twice a year
After all, even if you are not concerned about heart disease, bad breath should definitely be high on your list of concerns.
Tonza
Excellent advice. You brought out some very points.
Thank you…
Thank you!!!!😊