09/22/2025
Did you know your gums and heart are more connected than you think ?
Gum disease doesn't just affect your mouth- it may also increase your risk for heart disease.
Taking care of your oral health can help protect your heart too 🦷❤️
🦷You may not be aware of the link between dental and heart health. Did you know that your teeth and gums can harbor millions of bacteria? If you have poor dental health and gum disease, bacteria can enter your bloodstream and travel to your heart valves, causing inflammation and possibly infection of the valves. This can be a very serious condition that requires hospital treatment, including open-heart surgery. There is also a link to dental health and heart disease: Brushing your teeth thoroughly to remove plaque has been shown to possibly help prevent heart attacks and strokes by reducing inflammation in the body to levels close to those that can achieve statins.
🦷In a separate study, researchers at the University of Helsinki in Finland monitored the heart health of 508 patients with an average age of 62 years; of these, 169 had acute heart problems, and the researchers found a direct correlation between heart problems and untreated tooth and gum infections. Those who had good oral health were much less likely to also have a heart problem, but others whose dental infections had not been treated had a 2.7 times higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
🦷Here are some tips to keep your teeth healthy:
✅Brush frequently, at least twice a day for 2 minutes each time
✅Use dental floss: twice a day is ideal.
✅Visit the dentist annually
✅Visit the dental hygienist every 6 months.
