Wednesday, July 25

Watch Your Filthy Mouth


Is there a more brain-dead time than the 2 minutes you spend brushing your teeth? You stand in front of the mirror, bristle to enamel, foam spewing, with nary a thought in your head. Thing is, you're missing the most important opportunity of the day for self-diagnosis.

For starters, gum disease, as evidenced by pink bristles, multiplies your risk of developing heart disease by seven.

"Unhealthy gums result from an active bacterial infection, so there's probably something else going on in your body that's not good," says Domenick Zero, D.D.S., director of the oral-health research institute at Indiana University. And research has linked diseases of the mouth to problems in the pancreas, stomach, sinuses, and more. Luckily, your mouth is easier to explore than your organs, and symptoms appear early enough for you to stop the damage.
...more

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