Have you ever forgot to brush your teeth one night or were just too lazy to do so? Have you ever slept over a friend’s house and lost track of time and decided not to brush your teeth? This has happened to me before. I have slept over my friend’s house before and we were up late talking and watching movies. I was too tired to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, so I just went right to sleep after watching multiple movies. I have always wondered, as I’m sure like many of you, if not brushing your teeth is bad for your health. So what happens if you don’t brush your teeth? Let’s take a look.

According to Lauren Friedman, approximately one out of every five person don’t brush their teeth twice a day. So, if you relate to this statistic, you are not alone. The American Dental Association exclaims, “Taking care of your teeth and gums isn’t just about preventing cavities or bad breath. The mouth is a gateway into your body’s overall health.” Unfortunately, there is not really a method in which researchers can prove a causation relationship exists between avoiding brushing your teeth. This is because researchers would have to produce a control group that did not brush their teeth or a long period of time, or at least a decent amount of time. Many people would not be open to stop brushing their teeth for days on end, even for a science experiment.

One affect of neglecting to brush your teeth is gum disease. If your gums or teeth bleed while brushing your teeth, this could be a strong indicator that you have gum disease. Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gums, which can occur when plaque builds up between your gums and teeth. Over 50 percent of Americans have this gingivitis, which is most likely due to poor care of the gums and teeth. Even more surprisingly, neglecting to brush your teeth can cause tooth loss. Reported by Friedman, adults between the ages 20 to 64 have lost about seven adult teeth and 10% of Americans between the ages 50 to 64 have no teeth left. The most obvious downside to not brushing your teeth is bad breath, but did you know that another cause of neglecting to brush your teeth is dementia? Dementia is the loss of brain function and affects memory, thinking, language and behavior.

A study was conducted at a retirement community in Laguna Hills. The study suggested that there is a correlation between dementia and poor gum/teeth health. In the study, researchers observed 5,468 individuals for a total of eighteen years. They discovered that amongst those who still had their teeth, “those who reported not brushing their teeth daily had a 22% to 65% greater risk of dementia than those who brushed three times daily.” Another smaller study took a group of people who had Alzheimer’s disease. They noticed that their brains had a lot more bacteria related to gum disease than those who had “healthier brains”.

This is a chart comparing Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It includes the symptoms so if you know of anyone experiencing any of these symptoms, tell them to research these diseases.

Another disease that can occur due to the lack of brushing your teeth is pneumonia. Pneumonia is lung inflammation caused by a bacterial or viral infection. One major study showed a strong correlation between poor dental hygiene and and pneumonia. 315 individuals were chosen in a Brazilian hospital with periodontitis. Periodontitis is the inflammation of the ligaments that bear the teeth. These 315 people were three times more likely to acquire pneumonia. By brushing your teeth on a daily basis, the study showed that pneumonia can be reduced by 40 percent.

There is also a suggestion that there could be a link between gum disease and heart disease. Friedman exclaimed, “Adding oral health self-care…is prudent to improve patients’ oral health and possibly reduces coronary heart disease. Periodontal disease caused by pathogen bacteria…could represent one of several possible causal factors of heart disease.” A 2008 study conducted for the US Preventative Services Task Force suggested periodontal disease can be a trigger for heart disease, but they couldn’t find actual evidence that displayed this casual relationship.

Due to the studies I mentioned above, there is no direct link (casual relationship) between poor dental hygiene and heart disease. However, the study conducted for dementia and in Laguna Hills involving 5,000 plus people and Alzheimer’s, showed a strong correlation between poor oral hygiene and these two diseases. I am not quite sure if there is a causal relationship because even though the sample size was pretty large, the evidence wasn’t all that convincing. If there were more trials conducted for the same experiment, I think there would be more reason to say there is a direct link between neglecting to brush your teeth and gum diseases.

Sources:

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-if-you-dont-brush-and-floss-your-teeth-2014-2

http://brennerdentalarts.com/blog/2014/03/30/too-lazy-to-brush-your-teeth-heres-what-happens-when-you-dont-brush/