By Aspen Dental
How Can Brushing and Flossing Your Teeth Help With Your Blood Pressure?
How Can Brushing and Flossing Your teeth Help With Your Blood Pressure?
If you are one of the 75 million Americans struggling with high blood pressure, you may be able to find a contributing factor when you open your mouth. High blood pressure can be controlled by medication and making lifestyle changes, such as exercising more and eating a better diet with less salty foods. However, it has recently been discovered that poor dental hygiene can make it more difficult to keep high blood pressure under control.
This study, published in the journal Hypertension, found that blood pressure readings of hypertensive patients with healthy teeth and gums who used medications to control their blood pressure were 3mm HG lower than similar patients with poor dental hygiene. Also, patients under medication who had gingivitis or periodontitis were 20% less likely to have controlled their hypertension than patients without gum disease.
It was found in the same study that hypertension patients’ blood pressure readings resulted progressively higher as their dental health deteriorated. They also conducted research on hypertensive patients who had healthy teeth and gums and did not use medication to control their hypertension, and saw that their blood pressure readings were similar to patients who used medication but had poor dental hygiene.
This means that having proper dental habits like brushing and flossing is roughly as effective in regulating high blood pressure as medication alone, and that using medication without practicing proper oral hygiene almost cancels out the effectiveness of the medication. Yet another benefit of brushing and flossing your teeth every day! So, if you are trying to get control of your high blood pressure, try improving your daily dental care routine. For more information, contact us at Aspen Dental.
