Just One Thing - Clean Your Teeth Facts By Dr Michael Mosley

we would all like some quick and simple ways to improve our health but we're inundated with often conflicting advice so if you were going to try just one thing to improve your mental and physical Welling what should it be perhaps the martial art of taiichi to improve your immune system maybe a few nuts to slow aging or how about cleaning your teeth to give your brain a boost I'm Dr Michael Mosley and this is just one thing where each episode we'll explore one thing you can start doing today to improve your health or life in ways you might not expect I'm at my bathroom sink and I'm just finished off doing something that should not only reduce my risk of tooth decay but may also protect my heart in my brain and as you probably guessed I'm just been brushing my teeth now doing this twice a day after using an inter Dental brush or some floss to remove the bits of Dey between my teeth should benefit My overall health in some surprising ways and to see just how good a job I've done I'm going to chew on a pla disclosing tablet now here it is and here it goes this should color the sticky film of bacteria otherwise known as plot which I've missed and let's see oh God that's not good there's lots of kind of blue in my mouth and a particularly big bit of blue between my teeth that must be an area where I missed when I was brushing but at least I am giving it a go here in the UK a quarter of all adults don't brush their teeth twice a day and when it comes to men it is one in three who don't good dental hygiene has some obvious advantages such as preventing cavities but beyond teeth studies of shown that brushing and using inter Dental brushes on those tricky to reach bits May reduce your risk of stroke Stave off dementia and benefit your overall health so better brushing Better Health I'm speaking to Lori from North Wales let's see if improving her dental hygiene is just one thing she'd like to focus on Hello Larry hi do you have good teeth or are they like mine full of fillings full of fillings they're not too bad but yeah there's definitely a few issues with them okay so tell me about your toothbrushing Technique try and hit all areas I think you do it twice a day do you um not every day no definitely once a day and do you ever floss or use inter Dental brushes to get the little bits out no what about late night snacks yes I definitely do like a late night snack so do you make sure to brush your teeth before you go to B bed I eat after you've had your late night snack not every time no you're very honest I like that so I have a simple but important challenge for you this week I want you to brush your teeth twice a day for 2 minutes do it once when you wake and once before bed after that snack and do make sure you use the inter Dental brush at least once a day preferably in the evening it won't take much of your time do you think you can manage that definitely yeah I can definitely do that I've asked Lori to focus on her pearly white smile this week because preventing the buildup of bacteria in your gums can have big long-term benefits although some bacteria in your mouth are helpful the ones that cause gum disease can affect your whole body causing damage in organs far away from your mouth for example keeping your gums in good shape can benefit your heart according to a huge study conducted on over 10,000 men and women from the Scottish Health survey people who brush their teeth twice a day have lower rates of heart disease than those who brush once a day or less why well one suggestion is that when bacteria from your mouth leak into your blood this activates an immune response in the short term that can be helpful but if it continues it can lead to chronic inflammation which damages the heart these bacteria can also damage the the inner lining of your blood vessels increasing fatty buildup which in turn can affect blood flow to your vital organs good oral hygiene could also help your body in its battle against diseases like Co an Egyptian study which looked at over 300 patients who had recovered from covid found that people with healthy gums were less likely to be severely affected another study found that covid patients with gum disease were over three times as likely to be admitted to intensive care and these patients were nine times as likely to die from the illness another really good reason for keeping your teeth and gums in good shape is doing so may also protect your brain a recent study of stroke patients revealed that over 80% had blood clots that showed the presence of oral bacteria and another study showed that people who have severe perodontal disease that's inflamed gums are also at greater risk of Alzheimer's disease I'll be speaking to a scientist about this surprising math brain Connection in a moment but first let's check in with Lori to see how she's getting on with the challenge so I'm about halfway through the week and my teeth look amazing the best they've looked in a long time I've enjoying doing it in the evenings it feels like self-care it's quite nice to take that time out and sit there and use the interdental brushes I've stuck to cleaning my teeth twice a day every single day it's actually helped me with the snacking because obviously once I've done my teeth I then end up not snacking in the evening so that's been great so yeah really enjoying the task and really pleased with how it's going it's great to hear Lori is enjoying her clean teeth Challenge and it's helped her cut out some lak night snacks which is a bonus we'll check in with her one final time at the end of the week but now to find out why looking after your teeth and your mouth is so important for your health and your brain I'm talking to Dr SIM singra from the University of Central lancashire's School of Dentistry good day good day uh what exactly is gum disease it is formed by bacteria in the mouth it's like the dental plaque or the bacteria wedge between the gum and the enamel and forms Pockets eventually it erodes the soft tissues and and even the heart issues and then the teeth fall out now obviously gum disease is bad for your mouth but how does it affect the rest of your body so there is this intermittent drip off bacteria from bleeding gums once that goes into the bloodstream it can go to different organs all over the body and we do know things like diabetes arthritis cardiovascular disease diseases stroke they're all related to parodontal disease or gum disease so they can also cross the bloodb brain barrier and get into your brain and that is your area of research is that right the math brain connection yes so initially we obtained a brain tissue from diagnosed Alzheimer's disease patients and We examined Alzheimer's diseased brains and non-alzheimer's diseased brains in the laboratory uh looking for signatures of DNA from these uh bacteria from the Gum as well as any proteins that might be associated with them and we found they were exclusively within the Alzheimer's disease brains and not in the non-alzheimer's control brains so you're looking at this brain tissue it was only in the Alzheimer's Pat that you actually found the presence of these particular bacteria that's correct that must have been an exciting moment also slightly disturbing the idea that you can go from the mouth to the brain to dementia is a very big step isn't it absolutely as soon as we published our first study in the Journal of Alzheimer's disease we were constantly being asked well can you show us that they actually get to the brain is incredible so the next study we conducted was was in collaboration with the University of Florida so what they did was they caused parodontal disease experimentally in mice and what we found was that those bacteria had entered the brains of those mice clearly the message is that oral health is unbelievably important for your body and your brain and what are the best ways of looking after your teeth and your mouth generally what are your top tips top tips are obviously clean your mouth twice a day at least for 2 minutes each time first thing in the morning last thing at night and also use fluoride toothpaste and brush it and then you can let some of the toothpaste Linger on into your teeth and gums so that it has the added protection for a little bit longer to act on the teeth so I'm told uh spit but don't rinse what about the tongue do you do anything with your tongue well our research has actually shown the tongue gets very dirty that was a surprise definitely I think it's important to clean the tongue what do you think about mouthwashes good or bad well I think they have their place we should really go by when the dentist has recommended its use and for how long alternatively if you feel that you want to use a mouth wash then I would certainly make sure that you understand the instructions on [Music] them so brush for 2 minutes including your tongue and just spit don't rinse your mouth afterwards most of us would also benefit from flossing or using inter Dental brushes before we brush our teeth a study of dental students in Iran found that flossing before rather than after removed the most plaque another tip from the British Dental Association is to brush before breakfast and to wait a full hour after your evening meal to brush again and that's because eating creates acid in the mouth weakening your enamel brushing too soon after a meal can actually damage your teeth so there we go let's check in with Lori one final time let's find out if she has been able to stick to her new oral hygiene routine it's the end of the week and I've actually really enjoyed the task that I was given I've really surprised myself by how relaxing I found the inter Dental brushes aesthetically it's been brilliant my teeth have never looked this good people have even commented on how white they are which is never happened before but it's also really good to know that I am doing something that could prevent dementia could reduce my chance of getting heart disease so it's definitely a win-win and definitely something that I will continue doing as we go forward I'm delighted to hear that Lori will be sticking with her new routine I've also been paying particular attention to my dental hygiene this week I already regularly flossed and brushed my teeth before this challenge but since I started using those plar disclosing tablets I began to focus on areas where I obviously hadn't been that thorough I do believe that doing this will not only help me keep my teeth for as long as possible but also offer health benefits beyond my mouth floss or use an inter Dental brush that apply the electric toothbrush and your gums your heart and your brain will thank you so that's it it's just one thing you can incorporate into your daily routine which really could benefit your body and life if you want to hear more of the series why not subscribe