Flossing provides numerous health benefits beyond healthy teeth and gums. It can reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing bacteria in the gums from entering the bloodstream. Flossing may also boost overall health by reducing chronic infections and inflammation linked to cancer and other illnesses. Additionally, flossing can improve sexual health in men by protecting blood vessel health. Regular flossing may even increase life expectancy by lowering the risk of strokes and other conditions caused by inflammation in the arteries from gum bacteria.

1. 5 REASONS TO START
FLOSSING NOW!

2. You’ve perhaps heard it mentioned numerous times and
filtered it out as background noise.
“Flossing is great for your teeth!” You may even know this
intuitively, and yet you still don’t do it.
Perhaps you’ve tried to do it and dropped the habit after a
couple of half-hearted attempts.

3. Well, you may want to pick up that string of dental floss because flossing can
benefit you in ways you may have never imagined. Here are five benefits of

4. 1. Floss for a better, healthier heart – Say what? How does
flossing your teeth benefit your heart? Well, scientific studies
have shown a link between gum disease and heart disease.
Gum disease causes gums to become swollen and to also
bleed.
These inflamed gums also contain bacteria which can enter
the blood stream and find their way to your heart. Once
there, they can cause all kinds of problems such as clotting
and can also contribute to the clogging up of arteries which
can then lead to heart disease.

5. 2. Floss to take care of your health – This may sound like a bit of a
stretch, but it couldn’t be truer. A survey published in the BMJ in
2010 came to this very conclusion. The findings were interesting.
People with gum disease (which is prevented by flossing) were more
prone to chronic infections. This would be caused by the gums
bleeding and harmful bacteria entering the blood stream via the
gums.
They found that these chronic infections caused a systemic
inflammatory response in the body. What they also discovered in
their blood were higher levels of a protein in the blood known as C-
reactive protein which rises in response to inflammation. Worryingly,
this protein has been linked to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

6. 3. Floss your way to bedroom bliss – If you are male, you may want to
read this with added interest. The Journal of Periodontology recently
revealed that men with periodontal disease (gum disease) are 7 times
more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction than those who do not.
The harmful bacteria that enters the blood stream through unhealthy
gums is understood to cause damage to blood vessels via
inflammation. Since it can travel through the blood stream throughout
the body, it can potentially cause damage to the vessels that supply
the penis with blood!

7. 4. Floss to live longer – Flossing really does add years to your life
expectancy. How so? Well, when gums are inflamed (prevented by
flossing), they become populated with bacteria. As mentioned before,
if this bacteria gets into the blood stream, it causes an inflammatory
response in the body.
The inflammation also occurs in the arteries and opens up a whole
gamut of possible medical complications – from a full blown stroke to
coronary heart disease. In fact an analysis of 4 separate studies at the
University of Hiroshima in Japan revealed that those with 24 or less
teeth have a 57% higher risk of suffering a stroke than those with 25 or
more teeth. Scary isn’t it?

8. 5. Floss for a better memory – An interesting study at the University of
Kentucky was published in 2010. The study’s subjects were people
between 75 and 90 years of age. They were put through a test where
they would be required to recall a series of 10 words which they had
been given 5 minutes before. The subjects had similar backgrounds
with regards to education. This was repeated over a three year period
and the results were interesting to say the least.
The study showed that the subjects with fewer teeth scored lower
marks than those with more teeth in the initial test. Not only that, their
scores declined much more sharply in the consecutive tests.

9. It is surprising that an activity as unassuming as flossing
can prevent a whole host of problems and increase the
likelihood of good, vibrant health. It is important to
incorporate flossing into your daily dental care regimen.
Sadly, not many people floss. The true statistics of flossing
are difficult to accurately measure. It is believed around
12% of Americans and roughly 22% of Brits floss daily.
However, some dental experts believe the true figure is
actually closer to 5%.

10. Regardless of the statistics, flossing can be easily
incorporated into your daily regimen and it is
surprisingly easy to do. Unfortunately, as our
Arlington, Texas dentist office sees all too common, it
is just as easy not to.

11. CONTACT US
Mark C. Marchbanks, D.D.S.
2624 Matlock Road Suite 100, Arlington, TX 76015
Phone: (817) 261-2747
http://arlingtontexasdentist.net/