Flossing daily can lower your risk of stroke, heart disease and even dementia, by reducing harmful bacteria in your mouth. Photo / 123rf
Flossing daily can lower your risk of stroke, heart disease and even dementia, by reducing harmful bacteria in your mouth. Photo / 123rf
Most people think keeping their teeth clean stops them from falling out – but there are serious health risks associated with gum disease
If you brush your teeth morning and night, you probably think your oral health is in pretty good nick. But skipping the extrastep of flossing could not only leave you at risk of cavities, gum disease and loose teeth, but chronic health problems such as heart disease, dementia and type 2 diabetes.
That’s because a slimy biofilm is constantly trying to grow on our teeth, explains Morag Powell, a hygienist, dental therapist and lecturer at the University of Plymouth. Brushing your teeth twice a day will remove this substance from the outside and inside of the teeth, but not from that hard-to-reach surface between the teeth.
If left to grow and mature in these gaps, the biofilm may eventually trigger gum disease – when the gums become swollen, red, sore and bleed. But the inflammation doesn’t stop there – it spreads throughout the rest of the body too, Powell says.
Some people can’t comprehend the links between gum and overall health, says Dr Zoe Brookes, an associate professor of dental education and research at the University of Plymouth. “But imagine having an infected wound the size of your palm,” she says. “That’s how big the infection is if you’ve got gum disease. That’s going to be affecting your whole body as well.”
“I’ve spent a lifetime trying to increase awareness of the value and importance of cleaning between the teeth and that’s what [all dentists] need to do, so patients are more inclined to do it,” says Powell. Simply flossing for a few minutes a day will not only keep you in your dentists’ good books, but also help you to dodge an array of health problems. Here’s how.
Interdental brushes are more effective than floss at removing plaque and bacteria. Photo / 123rf
1. Flossing every day will lower your risk of stroke
Flossing only once a week cuts the risk of having a stroke by 44%, according to a recent paper from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.
Scientists looked at the health records of more than 6000 people and found those who flossed weekly were also 12% less likely to develop atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat).
The experts believe their findings may be down to flossing reducing the chance of oral infections and lowering inflammation in the body, which in turn reduces the risk of suffering a stroke and heart problems.
“We know that people who have gum disease are more likely to have cardiovascular disease,” says Brookes.
Apart from inflammation in the mouth causing problems for the heart, it could be that the bacteria that infect unhealthy gums travels to the blood vessels, she notes.
For example, Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), a bacteria that drives gum disease, has been detected in atherosclerotic plaques (a build-up of fats in the artery walls), suggesting a causal link between gum and poor heart health, Brookes explains.
Flossing only once a week can reduce your risk of stroke by 44%. Photo / 123rf
2. It will help protect your brain health
A recent study from the University of Exeter linked the presence of P. gingivalis in the mouth – the bacteria known to fuel gum disease – with a decline in brain function.
The team, who analysed saliva samples from 115 people aged over 50, found P. gingivalis was more common in people with memory problems. Another family of bacteria linked to poor oral health, called Prevotella, was also linked to poor brain health.
Keeping teeth clean – through brushing and flossing – is key for protecting brain health, the scientists concluded.
A separate paper, from a team at Tohoku University in Japan, found people with gum disease and tooth loss had shrinking in the hippocampus (part of the brain critical for memory and learning). The researchers said their findings should encourage people to take better care of their teeth.
Doctors know that rheumatoid arthritis is caused by the immune system going into overdrive and mistakenly attacking the cells that line the joints.
Research suggests flare-ups in the condition – causing swollen, stiff and painful joints – may be caused by gum disease.
A study from the Rockefeller University suggests bacteria present in the mouth of patients with gum disease can leak through the gums, into the bloodstream and activate the immune system, causing arthritis symptoms to worsen.
“It does make sense,” says Brookes. “In rheumatoid arthritis, there’s an antibody – citrullinated proteins – that initiates an immune response. There could be an indirect link between gum disease and the activation of this antibody, which then goes on to affect the joints,” she explains.
Poor oral hygiene has been linked to memory loss and brain shrinkage in older adults. Photo / 123rf
4. Flossing regularly could lower your pancreatic cancer risk
Maintaining good oral health has been linked to a lower risk of pancreatic cancer.
That’s according to a study from NYU Langone Medical Centre. Researchers compared saliva samples from 720 people, half of who later develop pancreatic cancer. Results showed those with high levels of P. gingivalis had a 59% higher risk of developing the cancer.
Explaining their findings, the scientists suggested the inflammation caused by P. gingivalis may have caused inflammation in the pancreas that led to cancer, or that the bacteria may have been a signal of cancer-causing inflammation.
“The links between cancer and gum disease is a more controversial area,” Brookes notes. There have been some individual studies showing a connection, but association has not been the subject of a systemic review, she says.
5. Slashes type 2 diabetes risk
“Poor oral health has been linked with type 2 diabetes,” Brookes notes. That’s because having gum disease is known to increase blood sugar levels, which in turn increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Also, gum disease triggers inflammation throughout the body – another risk factor for the condition.
People who have type 2 diabetes are also at greater risk of gum disease because they have a more aggressive inflammatory response to the bacteria in their mouth, she says. “There’s a bit of a chicken and egg – gum disease might cause diabetes, but diabetes actually might make gum disease worse as well.”
How to floss and use interdental brushes
Flossing
Take 30-45cm of floss or dental tape and grasp it so you have a 3-4cm section held tautly between your hands
Ease the floss or tape gently through the contact point where your teeth touch and into the area between your teeth and gums, as far as it will go
Wrap the floss around the tooth, so it forms a C shape, and then pull it up with a flicking motion to dislodge food and plaque. Repeat 10 times in each space
Interdental brushes
Choose the size of brush that matches the gap between your teeth
Insert the brush between the teeth and gently move back and forward, brushing against each side of the tooth, around 10 times
The most important thing is to clean between your teeth once a day, Powell says.
However, for optimal results, ideally do it before you brush your teeth rather than after, she suggests. “If you’ve got a biofilm between your teeth and you brush your teeth first, the fluoride in your toothpaste will not be able to penetrate it,” Powell says.
Interdental brushes are more effective than floss because they remove more biofilm and get deeper beneath the gum line, she says. However, floss can be helpful for people with small gaps between their teeth and getting between the contact point where teeth touch.
“You need to be sized for interdental brushes,” she notes. A hygienist, dental therapist or dentist can do this at your next appointment.
Each interdental brush can be used for a few days or up to a week – just make sure to rinse after each use, Powell says. You don’t need to put any toothpaste on the interdental brush, but some people prefer to, she notes.
“Once you get into the habit of doing it, it’s really quick and really easy and you don’t give it a second thought,” she says.
