Taking a few minutes each morning and night to care for your teeth can make a big difference in your overall health.
Oral health should never be underestimated. Your tooth brushing habits may be associated with a variety of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.
A
recent study from Japan showed that brushing your teeth before going to bed at night is particularly important and that nightly brushing of teeth may lower cardiovascular disease risk. Another
study found that brushing your teeth more than once a day could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 9 percent.
A study published this year in Scientific Reports, a sister journal of Nature, shows the relationship between tooth brushing habits and the cardiovascular disease incidence rate. The study started by recruiting 1,675 patients ages 20 and older who were hospitalized for surgery, examination, or drug treatment. They were divided into four groups according to when and how frequently they brushed their teeth:
- Brushing in the morning and night
- Brushing only in the morning
- Brushing only at night
- No brushing at all
The results were analyzed for a relationship between tooth brushing habits and the incidence risk of cardiovascular disease.
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The study found that the cardiovascular disease survival rate of patients in the morning-and-night brushing group and the night-only brushing group was significantly higher than that of the non-brushers, and the proportion of brushing after lunch in these two groups was also higher than that of the other groups.
“The findings clearly indicate that only brushing in the morning after waking up is inadequate and that brushing at night is good to maintain good health,” the researchers stated.
In addition, subgroup analysis based on smoking habits found that among patients who smoked, the prognosis of cardiovascular disease in the non-brushing group was worse than that of other groups. Among nonsmoking patients, the hospitalization prognosis in the non-brushing group and the morning-only brushing group was also poor.
According to the report, although the full mechanism isn’t completely understood yet, the following can be hypothesized:
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1. Tooth loss as a result of periodontal disease or dental caries caused by an increase of oral bacteria are likely contributors to a decline in chewing efficiency and thus overall bodily health.
2. Oral bacteria causes an imbalance of bacteria in the intestinal tract leading to a decline in overall bodily health.
3. Bacteremia caused by periodontal disease leads to cardiovascular disease.
Another
study published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation examined oral hygiene and various diseases among more than 510,000 people ages 30 to 79. The results showed that compared with people who brushed their teeth regularly, people who never or rarely brushed their teeth had a 12 percent higher risk of major vascular disease, an 8 percent higher risk of stroke, an 18 percent higher risk of cerebral hemorrhage, a 15 percent increase in myocardial infarction, a 22 percent higher risk of pulmonary heart disease, a 9 percent increase in cancer, a 12 percent increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and a 25 percent increased risk of liver cirrhosis. However, there was little difference in their rates of Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
Infrequent Tooth Brushing Linked to Multiple Chronic Diseases
Globally, about 41 million people die from various chronic diseases every year, accounting for approximately 74 percent of all deaths.
Studies have found that unhealthy habits such as smoking, lack of exercise, unhealthy diet, and not brushing your teeth (or just doing it rarely) are associated with a higher risk of chronic diseases.
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In February, a
study on the relationship between tooth brushing and chronic diseases involving 18,158 people, averaging about 61 years old, showed that people who brushed their teeth only once a day or didn’t brush their teeth at all had a 50.24 percent chance of suffering from chronic diseases, of which cardiovascular disease rated highest, at 40.2 percent. Others on the list included endocrine or nutritional metabolic diseases at 15.39 percent, musculoskeletal diseases at 3.79 percent, digestive system diseases at 2.04 percent, respiratory system diseases at 1.79 percent, and genitourinary system diseases at 1.38 percent.
Periodontal disease is usually caused by improper oral and dental care, and periodontal disease is also linked to autoimmune diseases and mental illness. A retrospective
study published in BMJ Open, a sister journal of the British Medical Journal, used the UK’s primary care data involving more than 15 million people for a comprehensive analysis. The results showed that compared with the control group without periodontal disease, people with periodontal disease (periodontitis and gingivitis) had an 18 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease and a 7 percent higher risk of cardiometabolic disease. The risk of immune diseases also increased by 33 percent, while the risk of mental illness increased by 37 percent.
The result of periodontitis is invariably tooth loss, and studies have found that tooth loss is also closely related to dementia. One
study of elderly Japanese with varying degrees of tooth loss showed that the group with the fewest teeth (zero to 10 teeth remaining) had a 71 percent increased risk of mild memory impairment compared with those with 22 to 32 teeth remaining.
Ou Hanwen, CEO of the Taiwan Chapter of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine and CEO of Taiwan Hanshi Integrated Functional Medicine Clinic,
posted on Facebook that people often ignore oral health and that chronic inflammation in the body may come from poor oral health.
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Bacterial populations form biofilms (plaque) on the teeth and oral gum tissue, and over time this can destroy the oral flora, causing chronic inflammation and immune system imbalance, he wrote.
Mr. Ou said that pathogenic bacteria can also enter the bloodstream and reach other organs in the body, including the heart, liver, and brain. Oral bacteria could, in this way, lead to damaged nerve cells in the brain, which may lead to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
Frequent Brushing Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
The well-known European Heart Journal published a
study in 2019 on a large population-based cohort of 247,696 healthy adults without a history of major cardiovascular disease and with a median age of 52 years; there was a median follow-up time of 9 1/2 years. The results of the study found that people who brushed their teeth three or more times a day had a 19 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with people who brushed their teeth once a day or not at all. In addition, regular professional dental cleanings once a year or more can reduce cardiovascular risk by 14 percent. After multivariable adjustment, the study showed that brushing your teeth more than once a day reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 9 percent.
The study found that “a simple behavioral change in oral hygiene may help prevent future cardiovascular events, and the benefit was notable.”
Regarding habits to improve oral hygiene, Mr. Ou said that an imbalance of the oral microbiome can be adjusted through functional medicine strategies, including nutritional intervention and lifestyle changes. He suggests strengthening oral health in the following five ways:
1. Have regular dental checkups and take good care of your teeth in between visits.
2. Use toothpastes or powders that contain probiotics.
3. Make flossing and brushing a part of your daily routine.
4. Eat probiotic-containing foods.
5. Supplement with polyphenolic compounds such as turmeric, resveratrol, and green tea extract.
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