I have had two instances where people I knew had dental problems, and when those problems were resolved long term health problems disappeared. I have always been of the opinion that mouth health had a serious impact on health overall, and had circumstantial evidence, but no real proof. That proof has now emerged and not to my surprise is backed by years of cases similar to those I cited.
Better Oral Hygiene = Better Health
Specifically observed was a connection between oral health and heart health. This study was published in the International Journal of Cardiology, so if you are interested in more detail when you have concluded this brief article, visit their website. There are articles from the August 2008, and the November 2009 issues.
In layman’s terms (my terms) comparing two groups of patients one group who had suffered a heart attack, and a control group, found that those who did have the heart attack generally had poorer oral health. This isn’t to say that the poor oral health was the cause of the heart attacks, but probably was a contributing factor.
The linking cause is toxins resulting from either gingivitis or periodontitis Gingivitis is the milder of the two, being more of a gum infection, and periodontitis is a more advanced oral infection affecting the bones, often leading to tooth loss. The bacteria and plaque lead to the toxins which circulate around in the blood stream. This basically tells us that not only the heart can be affected, but also the circulatory system and probably any other organs. Take a moment and think about whatever health issues you or those around you have at this time. Whether heart, lung, kidney, liver, skin, or whatever, do you think that you should take steps to help those organs function at their optimum? So many people today are quick to react to symptoms, rather than be proactive, but as the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And at the price of today’s over the counter and pharmaceutical ‘cures’ tooth paste and floss could be the bargain of the century.
In the two instances I personally witnessed, both men had a history of poor dental health and eventually had all their teeth removed and replaced with dentures. Afterwards, both reported (informally) that chronic pains and persistant illnesses were reduced, and that they generally recovered from illnesses more quickly. Again, that is curcumstancial, but I think those first hand stories are very compelling.
The moral of the story is take care of your mouth and teeth. Some estimates have up to thirty percent of Americans with some sort of dental disease, whether gingivitis or periodontitis, so brush and floss people. Everyday.
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