Poor oral health is associated with this common and dangerous disease

Oral health is important. Maintaining healthy gums and teeth requires many steps, which most of our dentists like to passive-aggressively remind us of. Still, they may be right. While tooth decay may not seem like the worst thing in the world, poor oral health has been linked to a variety of diseases, including heart disease.

According to Harvard Health, people who don’t brush and floss their teeth have a higher risk of developing heart disease.

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The link between poor oral health and a higher risk of heart disease, while not fully understood, has emerged in a variety of studies. Harvard experts have a variety of theories as to why it exists.

For starters, diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis are thought to result in bacteria migrating through the bloodstream to various parts of the body; they could lead to blood clots, heart attacks or strokes. It’s also thought that the body’s response to oral bacteria (inflammation, which is the body’s default response to infection) could affect how the heart and brain respond in unexpected ways. Still, researchers are making it clear that the link between heart disease and oral bacteria may or may not exist; One study found that smoking, something many people with cardiovascular disease and poor oral health share, may be one of the connecting factors.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America, accounting for 1 in 4 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If there are measures that can be taken that could provide some form of protection, they are worth considering.

Other conditions that have been linked to poor oral health include arthritis, particularly in people suffering from periodontal disease, and pancreatic cancer.

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There’s a lot of room for investigation into oral health, but all of this evidence points to just how important it is to the rest of your body. Even if you brush your teeth several times a day, it’s important to floss often, no matter how tedious it may be. Going to the dentist is never a good time, but as much evidence suggests, what’s going on in your mouth has the power to affect the rest of your body.