25 Reasons You Should Brush Your Teeth

Posted by , Updated on March 24, 2024

Besides complicating your social life, neglecting to brush your teeth can land you with more than just a couple cavities. It could actually stop your heart. We’re not joking. Gum disease has been linked to an increased prevalence of conditions such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and bronchitis. But how? Because your mouth is full of bacteria. If you have poor dental hygiene, bacteria can make its way into your bloodstream and thus infect distant parts of your body. So, with that said, here are 25 really good Reasons You Should Brush Your Teeth.
25

Save Money

money

Okay, so it’s pretty obvious that if you don’t brush, you’ll probably lose your teeth, but by the time you get to the bottom of this list, you’ll see that brushing twice a day can potentially save you much more than a couple hundred bucks on a cheap pair of dentures. It can save you tens of thousands of dollars in health care over the course of your lifetime and potentially save your life as well.

24

Smell Good

bad breath

While we know it sounds obvious, we just wanted to be clear, your mouth smells bad because of bacteria, and chewing gum does not kill bacteria. At least not to any significant extent.

23

Gingivitis

gingivitis

Caused by plaque build up on your teeth, Gingivitis often leads to swollen gums that bleed when you brush them. Ironically, there is only one way to prevent this…to brush them.

22

4 out of 5 Americans Have It

dentist

Your chances of preventing Gingivitis look fairly bleak. With 80% of Americans afflicted by some form of gum disease, it quickly becomes clear why dentistry is such a lucrative profession. But gingivitis is only the beginning; eventually, you’ll find yourself with something much worse.

21

Periodontitis

periodontist

You thought swollen, bloody gums were bad? Well, that gingivitis will eventually spread, and you’ll start losing the alveolar bone around your teeth, followed by the teeth themselves. Couldn’t get much worse than that could it? Oh, it certainly could! Periodontitis, doctors have found, is often a gateway to many other much more serious complications. Keep reading to see what we mean!

20

Infections

immune system

Your mouth is one of the primary ports of entry into your body. Food, bacteria, almost everything inside of you passed through it at one point or another. This means that when something as critical as your mouth becomes infested with harmful bacteria (as it would when you have gingivitis or periodontitis), it will inevitably affect the rest of your body.

19

Trench Mouth

trench

Coined in the trenches of World War I, where it afflicted many soldiers, this is essentially an extreme form of gingivitis. Your mouth becomes so overrun with bacteria that they often spread into your cheeks, lips and jaw bones. This, however, is just the beginning.

18

Heart Attack

chest pain

If your gums are bleeding and your mouth is overflowing with plaque and bacteria, it will eventually make its way into your bloodstream. Unfortunately, this means that it will inevitably pass through your heart, and plague in your heart is never a good thing. Besides causing heart attacks though, this rogue bacteria can also lead to…

17

Stroke

stroke

In a mechanism very similar to what happens in the heart, the bacteria can also spread through the bloodstream and into your brain. So, not only can it increase your chances of having a stroke but it can also lead to…

16

Dementia

dementia

Poor gum health increases your risk of developing dementia by almost 30% to 40%. There are several theories about the exact mechanism, but hopefully, you can see the correlation. Remember to brush your teeth. It will help you remember everything else.

15

Alzheimer’s Disease

alzheimers

Yes, we know that this is a form of dementia, but just in case anybody reading this wasn’t sufficiently scared into brushing by everything above, we thought we should throw this one in for good measure.

14

Diabetes

diabetes

Evidently, those same bacteria that can destroy your heart and brain are also capable of decreasing the effectiveness of the insulin in your bloodstream. Eventually, this will lead to difficulty in controlling your body’s blood sugar, and then, at the end of the day, to an increased risk of type II diabetes.

13

Bronchitis

bronchitis

So apart from that nasty, mouth dwelling bacteria seeping into your bloodstream and slowly contributing to the death of your vital organs, another mechanism can get deeper into your body…inhalation. As soon as those fine droplets from your mouth settle into your lungs they can easily start causing problems, and bronchitis is only the beginning.

12

COPD

COPD

Smoking is bad for you, but smoking and not brushing your teeth is horrible for you. It’s not just the smoke in your lungs that can cause Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, but also the tobacco destroying your gums. Like a double-edged sword, it increases your chances of having COPD twofold.

11

Pneumonia

pneumonia

Even if you don’t smoke, that bacteria in your mouth can still lead to some nasty consequences. Just like with bronchitis and COPD, it can cause pneumonia. But apart from not breathing, there are still a couple other things that failing to brush your teeth can cause. Something like…

10

Arthritis

arthritis

People with gum disease are 8 times more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. Apparently the bacteria from your gums produces proteins that induce a reaction from your immune system which at the end of the day leads to some serious joint issues.

9

Delayed Conception

baby

As bad as it is to have your own body attacked by bacteria, if you are an expectant mother, there is another body you should be concerned about. The bacterial infection can be passed to your child and cause problems with delivery. Not only that, but many times after delivery, babies have a…

8

Low Birth Weight

premature

Because of a bacterial infection, often a mother’s antibodies have been found in the baby’s umbilical cord and placental blood after delivery. Not only does this mean complications at birth, but it can lead to numerous other issues as well. Unfortunately, due to hormonal changes, pregnant women are more prone to gum disease.

7

Okay, I’m scared, what should I do?

scared girl

So, now that you are sufficiently petrified of the bacteria living in your mouth, how can all of these things be prevented? Well, the good news is it’s not really a big secret, but the bad news is that you have to admit your mother was right. Let’s start with the basics…

6

Brush Your Teeth

brush your teeth

Studies have suggested that people, on average, spend about 1 minute brushing their teeth. This generally removes only about 60% of the plague. We know, however, that because you are not an average person, you always brush for two minutes, thereby removing 120% of the plague (just kidding). But seriously, stick it out and don’t forget to…

5

Floss

floss

Brushing without flossing is like jumping out of a plane without a parachute. Sure, it’ll save you a little bit of time, but in the end, you die. Okay, it was a bit of a slant, but you get the point. Although your brush can clean the exposed surfaces of your teeth, much of the plaque buildup occurs between them.

4

Rinse

sink

Your teeth compose only about 20% of your mouth, so even after brushing and flossing there’s still a good amount of bacteria on your tongue, gums, and even your saliva. Seems hopeless? Not if you rinse till it burns! But just as you can fight the bacteria in the bathroom, you can also fight them in the kitchen when you…

3

Eat Healthy

vegetables

By consuming lots of fiber, you are not only contributing to the overall health of your body, but you are also stimulating the flow of saliva in your mouth, which helps to remineralize your teeth when they start to decay.

2

Don’t Smoke

smoking

Smokers are over 4 times more likely than non-smokers to get gum disease, and smokeless tobacco isn’t any better. The best policy is abstinence, which brings us to our final point…

1

Be Fresh

white teeth

You want to be fresh? Let’s just be clear – you can’t be fresh when your mouth is full of lethal, heart-stopping bacteria. So, before you do anything else, go scrub those pearly whites. Then, come back and watch the 25 greatest Fresh Prince of Bel-Air moments ever. Learn from the master.



Photo: Featured Image - Shutterstock, 1. MaxPixel.net (Public Domain), 2. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 3. PxHere.com (Public Domain), 4. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 5. Stilfehler, Dental floss, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 6. PublicDomainPictures.net (Public Domain), 7. Victor Bezrukov, Scared Girl, CC BY 2.0 , 8. ceejayoz, Premature infant with ventilator, CC BY 2.0 , 9. Pixabay.com (Public Domain), 10. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 11. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 12. James Heilman, MD, COPD, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 13. BruceBlaus, Bronchitis, CC BY-SA 4.0 , 14. Pexels.com (Public Domain), 15. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 16. MaxPixel.net (Public Domain), 17. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 18. MaxPixel.net (Public Domain), 19. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 20. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 21. Bin im Garten, Zahnwanderung wegen Periodontitis OK 03, CC BY-SA 4.0 , 22. MaxPixel.net (Public Domain), 23. WikipediaCommons.com (Public Domain), 24. צביה, Lgive lashon, CC BY-SA 3.0 , 25. Jericho, Money Cash, CC BY 3.0