Your Gums and Your Heart

Had dinner last night with a friend that I’ve known in the dental field for thirty years. I specify that so that if you ever invite me to dinner, unless you’re in dentistry, this particular subject won’t come up. Anyway, we were talking about periodontal health over a glass of Chianti and some fava beans. Specifically, periodontal health as it effects the cardio-vascular system and the rest of the body in general. My friend Barney had been to a legal seminar where they were discussing suing dentists whose patients had died of heart disease. The deaths weren’t related to anything that happened in the dental office, except that the dentist hadn’t treated the patient’s gum disease (periodontitis) adequately, and there being such a strong correlation between inflammation and heart disease, or strokes for that matter, the oral condition could have precipitated the life-ending heart condition. Taking care of your teeth is such a pain, way less satisfying than taking care of your hair. Trust me on that one. Personally, I think the major problem is the prepared foods that we foods we eat, small particle-sized sticky material that glues itself to teeth. This good tasting but in so many ways unhealthy stuff, feeds the bacteria that cause tooth decay, and forms a matrix that incorporates the calcium in the saliva, forming calculus (used to be called tartar). My sense is that a diet with less starchy prepared food, and more fruits and vegetables, whose large particle size actually mechanically clean teeth, would keep the gums healthier. Once the calculus forms (and my lovely wife, who is the most healthy-eating and meticulous tooth-brusher in the world has calculus) only the dental hygienist can dislodge it. So, eat more fruits and vegetables, less high-carbohydrate-filled prepared foods, and listen to the dental hygienist when she tells you that you need to do a better job cleaning your teeth, or you gonna die.