Oral Health & Your Heart

Healthy Hygiene, Healthy Heart?

Believe it or not, how you take care of your teeth affects not only your oral health, but may well affect your heart health, too. Although scientists are not certain of the precise relationship between the heart and oral hygiene, studies consistently demonstrate a link between the two. It's possible that a mouth filled with bacteria and their toxins allows a continuous stream of poisons to enter the system. If the bacteria reaches your arteries it may easily irritate them, just as it irritated your gums in the first place. Such arterial wall irritations typically result in a buildup of protective plaque, which in turn can harden, thus blocking blood flow. Of course, without sufficient blood flow your heart can easily have a heart attack. Further, loosened arterial plaque may travel through the bloodstream, reach your brain and form a stroke-producing blockage.

Prevention & Detection

Your best defense against any of these possible scenarios is to maintain a consistently healthy mouth. You do this not only through meticulous daily brushing and flossing habits, but also through twice yearly visits to our office for routine check-ups. Remember, gum disease is a silent but serious problem that may go unnoticed without those professional exams. It's relatively easy to take care of a little stubborn tooth plaque now, but far more difficult to take care of the kind that builds up in your arteries.

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