Cleaning your teeth properly can extend your life: Visit the Canadian Dental Association website

Keeping a healthy mouth is an important part of leading a healthy life. In fact, dental health professionals are going as far as to say not keeping your mouth healthy can shorten your life. That's not good news.

Keeping your teeth and gums clean can impact the health of your heart, stomach and lungs, and may even help prevent diabetes.

While dentists have long recognized the importance of oral hygiene to the health of the gums and teeth, it is only recently that researchers have identified other conditions that are linked with poor oral hygiene. These include diabetes, heart disease and stroke, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), stomach ulcers and oral bone loss.

Health professionals believe the most likely connection between oral health and the aforementioned diseases is that inflamed gums or periodontal disease give rise to a series of events that cause inflammation throughout the whole body. For example, a 2004 study reported in the Journal of Periodontology found that 91% of 108 patients with cardiovascular disease suffered from mild to moderate periodontitis, compared with 66% of non-cardiac patients. Similar connections have been found with other diseases in which inflammation plays a role. 

Proper oral hygiene includes flossing and brushing your teeth and seeing your dentist regularly for check-ups and cleaning. You can learn how to clean your teeth properly (most of us don't) on the Canadian Dental Association's website.