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Healthy Teeth, Healthy Heart


Men's Health News

Good oral hygiene might protect you from more than just cavities.

People who brush their teeth less than twice a day are 70 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who take better care of their smiles, according to a new study in the British Medical Journal.

And the researchers found that this was true regardless of age, smoking history, dentists’ visits, and diabetes, among others.

So how is oral health is linked to heart health? Researchers suspect that inflammation plays a role. The scientists found that the subjects who brushed their teeth less often also had more levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. This protein is associated with inflammation, and is also linked to atherosclerosis, a condition in which plaque builds up in the arteries.

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