27 Dec Tooth Brushing, Inflammation, and Heart Disease
Hello wellness enthusiasts,
I wanted to mention the study on tooth brushing and heart disease that came out in the May 27th, 2010 issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ 2010;340:c2451) in case you didn’t hear about it. In short, it found that people who rarely brushed their teeth had a significantly higher risk of heart disease (and also the inflammatory markers that go along with it). Those who brushed once a day did better, but two (or more) times a day was found to be optimal. Of all the many approaches we hear about to reduce our risk of heart disease, this is one of the easiest. And frankly, there are other reasons to brush your teeth regularly, like, it will probably improve your social relationships. Interestingly, heart disease was not the only thing connected with poor oral hygiene. Those who brushed less frequently had a higher tendency to be obese, smokers, low on exercise, and poor. The link between gum disease, inflammation, and cardiovascular disease was already well known when this study came out, but it provided clear data on tooth brushing to reinforce this. Toothbrushes and toothpaste are cheap – just brush ’em! (And would it be too much to ask you to floss also?)
Yours,
Dr. Peter Borten, LAc, DAOM
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