Watch Your Mouth

Brushing, flossing, and visiting your dentist every six months can do more than remove tartar, whiten teeth, and freshen breath – it can also help your heart health!

Confused? Allow me to clarify.

Gum disease (known in dentistry circles as "periodontal disease") can cause more than just tooth loss.

Researchers theorize that the different bacteria in your gums – the same ones that, if not treated, inflame them and make them bleed when you brush – can enter the bloodstream and cause plaque buildup -- and inflammation -- in your arteries.

Remember, a buildup of plaque in coronary arteries blocks bloodflow to the heart. Bad news indeed.

And it’s not just a one-way street. Brushing and flossing are important for gum health, but nutrition also plays an important role.

Recent studies strongly support the notion that vitamin C and zinc deficiencies make gum tissue more vulnerable to infection by making it more penetrable for bacteria.

Calcium is another major character in this oral drama.

Since it is needed for bone structure – including the bone that supports teeth – it is believed that insufficient intakes make the bone more vulnerable to infection by bacteria, thereby increasing the risk of developing gum disease.

Another risk factor? Diabetes!

Tuns out bacteria absolutely thrive in saliva high in blood glucose levels. And by "thrive" I mean "wreak havoc on gum tissue."

And so we go back to the idea that, in the field of health, everything is related.

Consider the following summary: excess calories can lead to weight gain, increasing your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, thereby increasing periodontal disease risk, which can negatively affect cardiovascular health.

It’s kind of like a less fun “six degrees of separation” game.

Numbers Game: Answer

Nutrition plays an important role in three of the Top 3 causes of death in the United States.

Those three being -- in order -- heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Looking at the entire top ten, nutrition is a risk increaser or decreaser -- depending on what you're doing -- for half of it (diabetes comes in at #6 and kidney disease takes the #9 spot.)

Although I suspect the majority of the population is aware of the link between food and health, nutrition is too often taken seriously only when a problem is well underway (after a heart attack, once diabetes has been diagnosed, etc.)

In simple terms, a lot of this comes back to education. More specifically, the lack thereof.

When I say "education," I am not referring to socioeconomic status or Ivy League diplomas. I am actually talking about a public education system that largely ignores a little something known as "life skills."

There are two subjects that should be part of every high school curriculum (not only in this country, but around the world): personal financing (so people know what to do -- and NOT do -- with their money when they start earning it) and nutrition.

I don't expect a room of tenth graders to understand carbohydrate metabolism or explain the causes of sarcopenia among the elderly.

But how about teaching them the tools to choose a healthier meal at McDonald's? Helping them understand why Oreos don't make for a good breakfast? Letting teenage girls know that having nothing but a medium frozen yogurt all day is not a healthy way to lose weight?

Otherwise, we're just going to be in an eternal game of catch up with diseases and conditions that are years in the making.

Image: Nutrition Matters, a free newsletter distributed in Toronto, Canada (produced by the Toronto Public Health Department and written by Registeed Dietitians.)