About Alzheimer - I read an article recently about researchers finding plaque in the brains of Alzheimer victims, plaque similar to dental plaque. Not long after reading that article I read another about the link between infected gums (bacteria) and plaque in clogged arteries... heck,
that one was a good one... let me go fetch it...
Here we go:
Health Begins in Your Mouth http://www.drmarcuslaux.com/You probably brush your teeth twice a day, floss (hopefully) once a day, maybe use a commercial mouthwash to kill germs, and get your teeth professionally cleaned every 6 months. Good enough? Not even close, no matter what your dentist says.
When experts talk about superior dental care in this country, they’re mostly referring to the services you can get in a good dentist’s chair. But when it comes to educating you about oral hygiene at home, the American Dental Association isn’t putting its money where your mouth is. Yes, fresh breath and a dazzling smile are nice, but there’s a lot more to good oral health care than that. Researchers are finding solid links between the condition of your mouth and some sobering health problems that can wipe the smile right off your face.
Horror (Bio)film
Every time you eat, more than 50 different kinds of mouth bacteria join with food remnants to form a biofilm of acidic goo called plaque. It sticks to your teeth and gums and immediately starts doing what acid does: erode, corrode, and destroy things. If plaque isn’t buffed off your teeth
within about an hour after you eat, it starts etching into your enamel, making it doubly hard to get off. Eventually, it becomes calcified and turns into calculus.
Meanwhile, millions of nasty plaque bacteria spread the biofilm into the pockets under your gum line where your toothbrush can’t reach and where the oxygen level is just the way they like it: suffocatingly low. The invasion inflames and swells your gums, essentially closing the tent flap behind the bacteria now safely ensconced inside these warm, moist pockets. The acid starts breaking down the soft tissues around your teeth, deepens the pockets, and makes room for more bacteria. Now the real action begins:
Scene I: The way to your heart is through your mouth. With infected gums, every time your heart beats, millions of those bacteria enter the capillaries that permeate your mouth. Then they surge into your bloodstream—carrying tumor necrosis factor, fibrinogen, and other pro-inflammatory chemicals. They burn lesions into the lining of your arteries, release proteins that activate blood clotting, and stimulate the formation of another kind of plaque: the kind that clogs your arteries. In fact, when scientists dissect chunks of that arterial plaque, guess what they find inside? Oral bacteria. As levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals rise in your bloodstream, you start developing atherosclerosis: plaque-gunked arteries. This stiffens and narrows your arteries, making your blood pressure go up—which can damage your kidneys and make your heart work harder than it’s supposed to. To keep up with the demand, the left side of your heart gets bigger (and, ironically, weaker). Studies show that the less healthy your gums are, the higher your blood pressure is likely to go. Likewise, up goes your risk of heart attack.
Scene II: A stroke against you.
If your mouth isn’t healthy, odds are your carotid arteries are becoming clogged, putting you at increased risk of stroke.Scene III: A surprising turn.
Diabetes promotes the same kinds of systemic inflammation that gum disease does, damaging many tissues—including your gums—and impairing their healing capacity. This is one way diabetes contributes to cardiovascular disease. But researchers are now saying it goes both ways: The pro-inflammatory chemicals whipped up by gum disease can induce inflammation in your pancreas, worsening and possibly even causing diabetes.Scene IV: Child abuse. In pregnant women with gum disease, the risk of premature delivery increases by almost five times. Fetal cord blood from preemies shows that mom’s battle with mouth bacteria is carried, in her blood, to the placenta—where it creates inflammation that causes premature birth.
Scene V: No smoking required. According to a study of almost 6,000 people,
having gum disease significantly increases your risk of cancer of the head, neck, and esophagus—even if you’ve never smoked or chewed tobacco.
Eighty percent of Americans have some form of gum disease, and the five horrors I’ve just described can fly completely under the radar. By the time you have obvious signs such as bleeding gums and loose teeth, your health has already suffered significant damage. Some of it might be reversible. All of it is absolutely preventable. Here’s how to get that horror film closed, and keep it closed.
Every time you eat—even if it’s just a snack—you’ll want to interfere with plaque formation. If you wait until after you eat, you’ll need to act quickly to keep plaque from sneaking under your gum line. The best way: Toss a capful (about ½ teaspoon) of plain old 3% USP hydrogen peroxide (available everywhere in the familiar brown plastic bottle) into your mouth. Swish it around for about a minute, then spit. Next, dip the wet bristles of your toothbrush in plain old baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and brush gently as usual. With this simple two-step process, you’ll kill the pathogenic bacteria that thrive in a low-oxygen environment, and neutralize the biofilm’s acidic matrix to break it up. An even better
solution is to brush before you eat. If you remove the bacteria before the food arrives, you’ll avoid the acidic environment altogether.Go beyond brushing. A device called the Hydro Floss may be the ultimate in mouth cleaning. Based on the technology of the familiar Water Pik, the Hydro Floss has a reservoir that magnetizes the water. This development has been shown to reduce the amount of dental plaque by more than 40 percent. If I had to choose one over the other, I’d go with this rather than brushing regularly. Remember, the most serious problems arise in the gums, not the teeth.
Scrape your tongue twice a day. By dramatically reducing the bacterial population in your mouth, scraping helps keep your teeth and gums healthy.
Take a good quality multi-nutrient supplement and 50–100 mg of active coenzyme Q10, once or twice daily. Patients with gum disease typically have significantly lower CoQ10 levels than patients with good oral health, and when they’re supplemented their gum-health scores significantly improve. Some researchers consider gum disease to be a marker for CoQ10 deficiency.Always use the softest toothbrush you can find. Brushing with a hard-bristled brush can irritate sensitive gums and other delicate tissues.
Don’t use any mouthwash that burns or feels “tingly.” The sensation tells you that the stuff is inflaming your oral tissues. There’s a strong association between daily use of mouthwash and cancer of the mouth and throat.
Don’t settle for just a cleaning if your plaque is excessive and/or you have bleeding gums. Ask to see the dentist. If he or she isn’t up to speed on the general health risks of an unhealthy mouth, get a new dentist.
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