Healthy mouth, healthy body
In the old days, some folks advocated washing your mouth out with soap if you said something they thought was "dirty." While that's been abandoned as a popular tool of discipline, no one should ever give up on the idea of keeping their mouth clean and healthy.
When food gets lodged between teeth, plaque builds up around the gums and you can develop gingivitis (with red, swollen, and bleeding gums). That is reversible, but untreated, it leads to periodontal disease (with chronic inflammation that damages teeth, bone and tissue). At that point, you've opened yourself up to a wide range of associated diseases, including diabetes, heart and respiratory diseases, some cancers, cognitive dysfunction and even Alzheimer's. That bites!
Now, a new study finds that if you have gums that often or always bleed when you brush your teeth you're also at increased risk for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and chronic bronchitis. That's because, for bacteria, the mouth is the gateway to your lungs -- and gum disease throws your healthy oral biome out of balance, welcoming in potential troublemakers.
That's why it is so important to brush twice a day, floss daily (try a water-pick-like device), and see your dental professional for a checkup and cleaning at least twice annually. For help reversing gingivitis and keeping your mouth healthy, check out "8 Tips for Keeping Your Teeth Clean Naturally" at iHerb.com/blog. And to tamp down inflammation that may have spread from your mouth to your body, get research-proven advice in the free newsletter at LongevityPlaybook.com.
Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world's leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively. Together they have written 11 New York Times bestsellers (four No. 1's).
(c)2024 Michael Roizen, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
(c) 2024 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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