“You better go brush your teeth if you don’t want to die of a heart attack“, that’s the new threat parents can now use to scare their kids into brushing their teeth!! Believe it or not, they wouldn’t be lying.
A new research out of London and published last week in the British Medical Journal has found that people with poor oral hygiene are more at risk of heart disease compared to those who brushed their teeth twice a day!
11,000 people in Scotland were looked at, covering their medical history, family records of disease and lifestyle. Seven out of 10 reported they brushed their teeth twice a day and six out of 10 said they visited the dentist every six months. Not bad! But for those who were less frequent in their brushing, there was a 70% extra risk of heart disease!
What makes it even scarier is that the results were unchanged when risk factors such as social class, obesity, smoking and a family history of heart disease were taken into account. Isn’t that crazy!
Ok… calm down… I didn’t want to freak you out! Researchers also found that the overall risk is low!! It’s quite unclear whether poor dental hygiene is the cause of heart disease OR simply an indicator of risk.
Go brush your teeth now!!
Kim 😉
In Kim’s Head 
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