How Brushing Your Teeth Is Good for Your Whole Body, Not Just Your Teeth

We all know how important it is to look after our teeth, especially with today’s very sugary diet. But what you perhaps didn’t know is that brushing your teeth prevents harmful bacteria from traveling into your bloodstream and circulating around your body, damaging you along the way. This leads us to believe that brushing our teeth can actually impact our lives more than we realize.

Bright Side is sharing why it’s so important to have a good dental care routine and what happens when we don’t.

1. It’s good for your heart.

Brushing twice a day can protect your heart from inflammation and further complications. When harmful bacteria passes through your heart it can make the tissue swell (endocarditis). This can also put people at risk who already have heart problems, especially with their heart valves.

2. It keeps your lungs healthier.

Research on seniors has helped us to understand that oral health is closely connected to lung health. By brushing our teeth, we’re reducing the risk of spreading an infection from our mouth to our lungs when we breathe. This is important to be aware of, especially if you already have a chronic lung disease.

3. It may protect you from Alzheimer’s disease.

According to some studies, there is a close connection between gum disease and dementia — in particular, Alzheimer’s disease. One study done on 6,000 participants found that bacteria from gum infections made its way to the brain. Apparently, this happens when we neglect to brush our teeth and the infection passes into our bodies.

4. It protects you from gum disease and other infections.

Although this is a well-known fact, there are surprising effects that gum disease can have on our bodies. When we brush regularly, we are preventing the build-up of smelly and harmful bacteria, like plaque. Neglecting our teeth can lead to things like pericoronitis, which causes swelling in the cheeks, bad breath, and ulcers because of inflamed tissue.

5. It keeps your breath fresher.

It’s advised by experts for us to brush our teeth at least twice a day for 2 minutes along with cleaning our tongues at least once a day. This will help to stop the build-up of sulfur-producing bacteria in both the mouth and throat.

6. It reduces the chances of birth complications.

Having a clean, healthy mouth can be very important while pregnant as it keeps away gum infections that can affect the baby. Such infections can lead to low birth weight since it can potentially cause inflammation of the placenta. Swelling of the placenta can stunt the baby’s growth in the womb.

7. It can help you to control your blood pressure.

Taking the time to brush your teeth can help to maintain healthy blood pressure. A connection between the consequences of bad oral care, like gum disease, and higher blood pressure has been found. People with higher blood pressure can experience an extra strain on the body, like in their blood vessels, heart, and other vital organs.

How often do you brush your teeth? What other things do you do to keep them healthy?