Teeth

The routine has been pounded into our brains since childhood: Brush and floss at least twice a day. We all know the drill, but not all of us implement it as well as we should. We are just avoiding bad breath, right? Wrong-o.

“One of the major things we have discovered is that oral health has such an impact on your overall health,” says Heidi M. Brandenburg, DDS. “What is unique to the mouth is that we have millions of bacteria, and we’ve discovered a correlation between that bacteria and heart disease. They’ve actually detected oral bacteria in the plaques in coronary artery disease.”

Besides heart health, if bacteria come in contact with bone, they also accelerate the bone-loss process—part of what we know as gum disease. The condition's name is really misleading, Brandenburg says. “Advanced gum disease is a bone problem. Bacteria on the gum start deteriorating bone—it starts as gum problem and ends as bone problem.” Brandenburg notes that 75 to 95 percent of our population has some degree of gum disease, something that can be prevented.

The best way to combat gum disease, as we all know, is with good oral hygiene. But besides good oral care (don’t forget to also get your teeth cleaned by a dentist—most insurance companies cover two cleanings per year), there are a few things that we can watch out for in our twenties, thirties, forties, and fifties. Brandenburg gives us a bit of insight into how to maintain the pearly whites no matter what age you are.

In Your 20s
For women in their twenties, preventive bone health is a huge issue. But we are not just talking hips and knees. Bone that exists in your mouth is also important: It is what supports your teeth and holds them in, Brandenburg says. Although we all lose bone density throughout our lives, we can help minimize that loss through weight-bearing exercise and calcium supplements. For the mouth, weights are obviously out (unless you are in the circus), so calcium intake and supplements are in. Make sure to get your RDA of calcium (1,000 milligrams), and check with your doctor to see if you should be taking additional supplements to help avoid osteopenia and osteoporosis. If you have a family history of either, you should be especially pro-active in your calcium intake.