Don’t Forget to Floss!

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February 4, 2010
Filed under News

As this page has a heavy focus on kissing, we, as your health editors, thought it would be appropriate to share with you the benefits of dental hygiene. Although this age-old idea is something many of you have heard from a young age at the dentist’s office, it holds true and has recently been backed up by stronger medical research. That is why this issue’s healthy habit is to floss your teeth at least twice a day.

Beside from the obvious reason that flossing removes trapped food particles from between the crevices of teeth and gums, studies have also linked flossing to improved heart health.

A little known fact is that teeth actually have a blood supply, which is the reason for the seemingly unconnected connection to the heart. The bacteria found in plaque present in your mouth can build up over time and eventually be deposited into the bloodstream. This plaque has the potential to build up increasingly over time and cause major heart problems later in life, such as blocked blood vessels and heart disease.

All it takes to decrease these risks is a minimum of three minutes a day to floss away that unwanted build up. Not only will your mouth feel cleaner, but also your heart and blood vessels actually will be cleaner.

It this was not reason enough to start flossing right away, studies show that teenagers who do not floss are more likely to experience bad breath, cavities and yellow staining. Teenagers account for more than seventy percent of the cavities within the United States. There are other reasons for this besides flossing, such as a poor diet filled with too much junk food.

Scientific studies have shown that a person with bad breath, which is often caused by a build up of bacteria, does not get kissed as often as a person with good breath. Therefore, Valentines Day is the perfect time to implement a program such as this one. If you are not into flossing or cannot quite get the hang of it, there are products available in the form of dental picks that are an alternative to the common string form. If braces are getting in the way, try specialty floss with a firm waxed tip, which allows it to slip between wires more easily. These products are manufactured by all major dental brands such as Colgate and Crest and can be found in any local drugstore.

This is a healthy habit that you can carry with you for the rest of your life and jumpstart your path to lifelong dental hygiene. With Valentines Day just around the corner, there has never been a better time to start!