Health
Infectious Smiles
Your filthy mouth may have you headed for a heart attack–unless you follow this dental plan
By Erin Hobday
There are two options when it comes to oral hygiene: Treat your teeth like gold, or buy gold teeth. The latter is a tough look to pull off. Unless you're a rapper, women tend to frown on 24-karat caps. Aesthetics aside, there's an even better reason to go for option one: Your life depends on it. Unhealthy mouths unleash bacteria into the bloodstream, where the bugs travel to vital organs. As a result, your chance of developing diabetes can go up, your stroke risk can quadruple, and your risk of a heart attack can spike up to 14 times higher. Of course, these are all worst-case scenarios. The best case? The ligaments tethering your teeth to your jaw disintegrate, and you start shopping for dentures.
Don't let it happen to you. Open up and apply these eight mouth guards, and we practically guarantee you'll live long and die without dentures.
PLAQUE
When you wake up tomorrow, run your tongue over your teeth. Feel that? It's plaque, a mossy mix of germs, dead cells, and saliva. Left alone, it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria that cause cavities and gingivitis, a.k.a. inflamed gums. And gingivitis can lead to the ligament-destroying oral disease called periodontitis, says Marjorie Jeffcoat, DMD, dean of the school of dental medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "You can have an infection the size of the palm of your hand and not know it."
Grab a cup for protection. If it weren't for afternoon tea, Brits would have no teeth at all. A recent Chicago College of Dentistry study showed that people who rinsed their mouths with black tea multiple times a day had less plaque buildup than those who swished water. "Polyphenols in tea suppress the bacterial enzyme that triggers plaque accumulation," says Christine D. Wu, PhD, the lead study author. "Drinking tea a few times a day could have the same effect." Choose iced or hot tea, but try to down it during your meals. Worried about staining? Go green. "Green tea contains the same polyphenols as black tea," says Wu, "but it isn't fully fermented, and fermentation contributes to the staining."
Pull strings. Flossing belongs to that special category of onerous chores that includes cleaning the gutters, but it has to be done. What about the research showing that rinsing with Listerine (or one of its clones) is as good as flossing? A new study in the Journal of the American Dental Association found that swishing with Listerine and flossing is most effective of all. The key is matching floss to teeth. "If you have rough fillings, use waxed floss," says Dr. Jeffcoat. "If you have bigger spaces between the teeth, consider braided floss." And for unequivocally average teeth? Go with unwaxed floss; the friction will pull out more plaque. In terms of technique, Dr. Jeffcoat says to listen as you slide the string. "When it squeaks, you know the plaque is gone."
ENAMEL
Just like the paint on a Plymouth, your enamel is shield and showcase. Its enemies: ero-sion and abrasion. Erosion is the break-down of enamel by acids, while abrasion is wear from brushing. Either way, worn enamel sabotages smiles and lets bacteria tunnel into teeth.
Stick it to yourself. Sugarless gum is powerful medicine for your mouth; numerous studies have shown that chewing the sticky stuff stimu-lates the delivery of building-block minerals into damaged enamel. Most recently, researchers in Japan showed that people who chew sugarless gum fortified with the tongue-twisting ingredient casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (or CPP-ACP) can patch up twice as much enamel as those masticating gum minus CPP-ACP. Look for sugarless gums, that list Recaldent as an active ingredient.
Take the softer, easier way. Pair heavy hand pressure with a firm-bristled toothbrush and you're all set—to clean grout. "Some people actually brush grooves in their teeth," says Bruce Reuben, DDS, an oral surgeon in Chicago. To protect and polish your enamel, pick up a soft-bristled brush with tapered tips. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania compared this type with a soft brush with rounded tips and found that the former removed more plaque while remaining gentle on teeth. Still brushing the heck out of your bicuspids? Switch to your nondominant hand. Once you're used to exerting less force, switch back.
» Health archive
Men's Health Philippines - October 2005 Issue
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