It’s easy to grasp the importance of regular oral hygiene habits for avoiding mouth-based issues, like tooth decay and bleeding gums.
But when we stretch the discussion to whether regular flossing can lower our risk of whole-body issues, like a heart attack, the link between the two topics can get a bit fuzzy.
After all, where’s the connection between our mouths and our hearts anyway?
As you’ll see by the end of our discussion, having a healthy mouth is a great start towards having a healthy body.
Understanding the mouth/body connection…
In 2006, a team of researchers–led by Dr. Steven R. Gundry of the International Heart and Lung Institute in Palm Springs, California–did a study on 300 people who had a moderate risk of heart disease.
In this study, researchers determined if the participants were at risk for heart disease by measuring a common biomarker called C-reactive protein (CRP).
CRP is a component of our blood that responds to the level of inflammation in the body.
Doctors and researchers have found that CRP provides a better gauge for measuring heart disease risk than other common markers, like blood cholesterol levels.
In the study, the researchers decided to only test for what they called ‘lifestyle modification’.
The participants were simply asked to floss their teeth at least every other day.
That’s it!
In other words, researchers didn’t ask participants to change the foods they ate or the amount of exercise they did; they just asked them to floss at least every other day.
The Results…
After 6 months, all 300 people had their C-reactive protein levels tested again.
The CRP levels for all 300 participants had dropped below the threshold that made them ‘at risk’ for heart disease!
While that fact alone is awesome, the researchers then took another step that wound up giving the world an important piece of information.
Researchers instructed the participants to stop flossing.
And when the participant CRP levels were tested again, guess what?
Everyone’s CRP levels had gone back up into the ‘at risk for heart disease’ levels.
It’s all about inflammation…
So, what does this tell us about the mouth’s role in the creation or destruction of whole-body health?
We all know that gum disease is a silent, global epidemic, and it is the #1 cause of tooth loss in adults.
When the thug bugs implicated with gum disease establish colonies along and under the gum line, the body reacts to this bacterial infection in the same way that it responds to any infection; it increases inflammation to promote a healing response.
But the problem doesn’t stay in the mouth…
After as little as 9 days from exposure, the thug bugs can begin to travel throughout the body via the tiny capillaries in the gum tissue.
This is why we talk so much about whether or not your gums bleed when you gently brush and/or floss.
If you have any areas where your gums bleed as you floss, that means that the thug bugs in that pocket have access to the bloodstream.
They can and do swim upstream into the rest of the body.
The unique area of the gum line…
When we have an infection, it triggers our body’s alarms, and the immune system causes an inflammatory cascade in the area. This helps isolate the infection, and it also increases the immune system’s ability to provide backup with white blood cells and other immune system defenders.
But in the case of thug bugs and gum disease, their enemy base camp is located ‘outside’ the reach of the immune system.
Thug bugs colonize inside the gum pockets, that little space between the roots of our teeth and the gum tissue that surrounds each tooth.
In microbiology, the gum pocket is a borderland between two worlds.
So thug bugs gain access to the whole body via capillaries in gum tissue that connect to the bloodstream.
Then once the bugs are in the bloodstream, the body reacts to the widespread infection by causing systemic inflammation, but the inflammatory immune response can’t reach and address the source of the infection (which is hiding in the gum pockets).
This becomes a chronic systemic inflammatory condition, which is the stuff that makes a great platform for heart attacks, strokes, and so many other breakdowns in health.
Why flossing helps so much…
When thug bugs take up residence in the gum line, they try to establish a strong base camp where they can continue to build their numbers to colonize more areas in the mouth.
Flossing does a great job of disrupting and disorganizing the thug bugs and their colonization efforts.
But remember, to really make a difference, regular flossing is crucial. If you only floss occasionally, you’ll only be temporarily disrupting the thug bug attack on the body.
Regular flossing makes it very difficult for thug bugs to establish colonies in and along the gum line.
Takeaway gems…
To support oral (and whole-body) health, it’s important to:
- Floss at least every other day.
- Floss consciously so you notice if you have any areas that bleed.
Here’s a video that explains a little more on why flossing is so important, and here’s a video that explains how to floss without damaging your gums.
If you want to supercharge your ability to disrupt and disorganize thug bugs by flossing, check out the flossing tip in this ‘How to Use the HealThy Mouth Blend’ video.
Ready to take your oral health to new highs? Download our FREE ebook today: How to Remineralize Your Teeth
Here are some helpful videos to assist you along your path toward conscious flossing.
Helpful, Related Resources:
How To Stop Tooth Decay and Remineralize Your Teeth [Free eBook]
How to Stop Bleeding Gums in 3 Easy Steps [article]
How to Brush Your Teeth to Reduce Gum Disease [article]
4 steps to stop gum disease from causing an autoimmune disease in your life [article]
4 Reasons Why Brushing is so Important [article]
How to Create Greater Oral Health for the Whole Family [article]
WHY is flossing such a critically important oral hygiene habit? [video tutorial]
How to floss and NOT damage your gums [video tutorial]
How to Maximize Your Benefit Using the HealThy Mouth Blend [video tutorial]
“How long should I brush my teeth?” [article]
Electric vs Manual Brushing, Which is Better? Part 1 [article]
Sources:
Aloha Will and Susan,
I have discovered soft picks. I soak a soft pick with your healthy mouth blend and use it to clean between my teeth rather than use dental floss. This works for me and I wanted to share another way of cleaning between teeth.
Rhonda J.
Aloha Will,
Another thought provoking article that is much appreciated. I’m curious if you have any opinions about flossing vs. hydrofloss. I have been using a hydrofloss the past few years and much prefer it to flossing in terms of ease of use and comfort. I did recently turn down the setting based on your comments about “pressure washing” (lol) my gums and found that to be a beneficial change. Occasionally I will floss after using the hydrofloss to check if anything appears on the dental floss and generally it seems clean and not necessary. I do think proper dental hygiene is very important and use my hydrofloss a minimum of twice daily along with conscious brushing. Your article did make me wonder if I am effectively cleaning the few deep pockets that I have (a couple 4’s and 5’s) with the hydrofloss or whether I should also be flossing periodically. Also, do you have a reference for the Gundry lead study? I looked up the NIH reference but that lead me to a different study with only 40 subjects that was not very convincing for me. I must confess, after that health ranger reference with the phosphoric acid I do check on your references now. LOL!
Somewhat off topic, I have been thinking the last few weeks how challenging it must be to write a weekly article on dental issues. I continue to be impressed by your creativity of writing interesting articles. Maybe I can suggest a future topic. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on cleaning and maintaining dentures, you know, help out the old people a little. 🙂 In the past few weeks I have been implementing the “use it or lose it” principle and been wearing my flipper when I eat. That seems like another positive change for me based on reading your articles. 🙂 My chewing seems more balanced now and I am not bumping other teeth as much, if at all. Plus, I am hopefully helping my jaw bone though that is difficult to tell in this short time period. I have noticed some staining and discoloration now that I am eating with it, but maybe that is purely a cosmetic/visual thing. A quick search indicated that a natural way to clean it is using a vinegar and water solution but I would also be very interested to hear your thoughts on the subject. Interestingly, that flipper has become almost as important to me as a natural tooth. In addition to being expensive, it took me 3 or 4 return visits to the dentist to adjust the fit to eliminate irritation, so I am very motivated to take good care of it so it will last a long time.
Thanks again for your efforts, they are very helpful.
Aloha Jesse!
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your appreciation for our work.
I hear you on the references. 🙂 I think you are asking for a reference for the flossing lifestyle modification study. If so, here’s a link to other resources quoting this study. (Since I placed this link, the link broke. Not sure why the study isn’t available at that site any longer)
Thanks for the idea to write on how to clean dentures! I will add this to my always growing list of subjects to research and report to you all about.
Great to hear that you benefited from the info about turning down your hydro-floss. All in all, I think they are very helpful tools, provided that we aren’t using them as a powerwasher. 🙂
Thanks again for stopping by Jesse! It’s always a pleasure to engage with you here.
Aloha!
Thank you as always Will! – A great article.
Aloha Aaron,
Thank you for stopping by and offering your support!
We appreciate networking with you all at Evans Dental!
Thank you and Aloha!
Really enjoying your blog articles. Wish Iyou had a pin it button so I could pin these articles to Pinterst!
Aloha Michelle!
Thank you SO much for your idea! We are actively working on upgrading our site to provide the ability to pin posts!
Thank you again for being willing to express your preference of this! We’ll get there!! 🙂
Thank you and Aloha!
Do you encourage oil pulling, especially with coconut oil?
Aloha Sharon,
Thank you for reaching out to us here.
Yes, we appreciate oil pulling and believe that coconut oil is a fine oil to use. Just know, sesame oil is traditionally used and there are reasons in Ayurvedic medicine why they suggest sesame oil. More to come on this specific. 🙂 In the meantime, coconut oil is great!
Here’s our article on oil pulling…
Alhoa,
I’m still waiting for a response to my query about the wonderful and colorful tooth meridian chart in your last email. I had asked if it was available for reprint.
Thank you.
Aloha Deborah,
Thank you for the reminder. If you email us on our site, I can send you a printable version. 🙂