Our mouths do a lot of work. They help us nourish our bodies, talk to others, and breathe in fresh air. But that also means they catch a lot of nasties. Brushing your teeth is necessary to remove the plaque, food particles, and bacteria that cause dental diseases and other health problems. Brushing your teeth is not only an important part of maintaining good oral health—it can also improve your overall health and even your self-confidence. Our dentists explain why.
How Your Oral Health Affects Your Overall Health
Your dental health, physical health, and mental health are all closely connected. Just as poor oral health can affect your physical and mental wellbeing, chronic illnesses like diabetes and depression can also affect your dental health.
Oral health has been linked to many illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, and even pneumonia. This is because the mouth is a gateway for bacteria. Harmful bacteria can enter your bloodstream through small cuts in your gums, get breathed into your lungs, or swallowed. From your mouth, they can travel to almost any other part of your body and cause problems.
Your mental health can also be affected by poor oral health. Poor oral health can deepen depression by affecting our confidence. This can take a toll on your relationships with other people which can affect your social life and your work life. Poor mental health can also take a toll on your oral health, causing tooth decay or gum disease to worsen over time.
Why Is It Important to Brush Plaque Away?
Brushing your teeth gets rid of the food debris, plaque, and bacteria that build up in your mouth. If you don’t brush your teeth, plaque will build up, and your mouth will become a sanctuary for harmful bacteria.
You need to brush your teeth twice a day for several reasons:
1. Food debris will feed the bacteria in plaque, making your oral health worse. The residue from food and drinks—especially sugary ones—will feed the bacteria and allow them to multiply.
2. Plaque traps bacteria and debris together and against your teeth and gums. The longer that plaque sits on your teeth, the more harmful it becomes. In fact, if you wait too long to brush, the plaque on your teeth will turn into tartar, a substance so hard it can only be removed by a dental hygienist.
3. These harmful bacteria release acids that wear away your tooth enamel and irritate your gums. Plaque and tartar can cause tooth loss, gum disease, bad breath, and even other infections inside your body.
Don’t Brush Off Dental Care
Not only is brushing your teeth important, so is visiting your dentist twice a year. Our dental hygienists will remove all the plaque and tartar from your teeth, and give you a spotless base to help you keep your mouth clean. Here at Country Club Dental, our dentists Dr. Paul Whitney and Dr. Mikaela Weedman—as well as the rest of our team—want to make your visit as stress-free as possible. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (1/27/23). Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash.
