Excerpts From 4 Articles!
This is very interesting. I've come across Information several times in recent years that Stress the Importance of Taking Care of our Oral Hygiene in relation to HEART HEALTH. Today, I found Information that Stresses the Importance of doing this for BRAIN HEALTH and how they are Closely Related. The Medical Profession has been Treating Everything as SEPARATE for decades, but it so turns out that Our Body Systems are INTERRELATED, as Natural Health Practitioners like a Naturopath will tell you. Remember how people were told that the Earth was FLAT before Columbus discovered it is ROUND? It just goes to show how Ignorant Science and the Medical Profession have been about a number of things, for a very long time.
This goes to show that our Body Parts are Intrinsically Related not Separate - that's Old Ignorant Science!
It has only been "discovered" in recent years that our GUT relates Very Closely to our BRAIN and the Same Neurotransmitters that are present in our Brain are present in our Gut - so it does really matter what Foods and Beverage we Ingest. Hey?
Not long ago, Wholistic Dentists made known that Heart Issues sometimes relate with Very Poor Dental Hygiene causing Dental Caries. Now we have the "discovery" of the Relationship between our MOUTH and our BRAIN. I think we can all Benefit from this!
What Is The Link Between Your Brain And Your Teeth?
Written by Tomas Eichler, PhD student in Neurogenetics at Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP).
Your brain is wired to monitor your teeth. We have drastically underestimated the importance of our teeth.
How do we know? Look at how the brain ranks the importance of teeth.
The mouth is hooked into an incredibly complex neural network directly to the brain.
Your teeth are bony imprints of the building blocks your body used to create its architecture. Minerals, nutrients, the immune system, and physical messages all combine to be your pearly whites.
Your teeth stay ALIVE, all through your life, constantly listening to the environment via a hyperconnected network. They sense heat, cold, pressure, but also, an inner immune system that can invoke a response to heal potential threats (think tooth decay).
Yes, your teeth have an inner ability to heal tooth decay. They contain special SWAT-like cells that evoke an immune response. They require you to eat enough of the fat-soluble vitamins for strong teeth and bones.
Your brain devotes a large proportion of its 12 cranial nerves to the other oral and nasal structures. Pictured here are only the MAIN ones, there are plenty more.
For example, the tongue. If you look at the brain homunculus, it innervates roughly 45% of the cortical space that your brain uses to monitor muscle.
That motor function directly controls your airways, tongue posture allows opening of the throat, sealing the mouth for nasal breathing, and pressing against the palate.
The palate has its own set of nerves that are heavily based in the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system. This helps to kick off digestive processes, and via the vagus nerve, communicates with your gut (the gut-brain connection). Research also shows bacteria communicate between the gut and brain via a specialized lymphatic system!
The three principles of healthy teeth are based in:
Food........ Breathing........ Sleep........
When we correct these three, we place the body in its strongest position to be its healthiest. They align all of the systems through one simple frame starting in the mouth.
Article Source HERE
Oral Health Extends Far Beyond The Mouth
Board member of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health (AAOSH) Dr. Alan Reisinger reports that poor oral health is associated with negative health outcomes throughout the body. He goes on to explain that “one possible reason is that when the body fights the bacteria that cause gum disease, it raises inflammation throughout the body…This systemic inflammation can increase a person’s risk for a host of problems including heart attacks, strokes, dementia, pregnancy complications, and certain cancers.”
Article Source HERE
How To Stop Bad Bacteria In Your Mouth
From Migrating To Your Brain
Rheumatoid arthritis and pneumonia are just two diseases that have been
linked to gum disease.
According to a new study published in the journal Science Advances, bacteria normally present in the mouth can also release toxins that make their way into the brain. Once there, they may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease.
While dentists around the globe throw up their hands and say “Told you to brush twice a day!” here’s what’s going on and what you can do to protect your health.
Mouth Bacteria 101
Over 6 billion bacteria, including 700 different species, reside inside your mouth. Some promote health, others provoke disease.
Your mouth, or what scientists refer to as the oral microbiome, is “a complex community with lots of communication between bacteria of the same species as well as across species,” Fourre said.
When your teeth feel slimy and in need of a brushing, you’re feeling their presence.
Oral bacteria also thrive inside your cheeks and on your tongue, palate, tonsils, and gums. Your mouth is a great habitat for unicellular microorganisms. It’s constantly moist, has a fairly neutral pH, and a balmy temperature. But despite this perfect environment, not all the germs in your mouth stay put.
“Roughly two dozen oral species can be associated with diseases or conditions in other parts of the body,” Fourre said.
You swallow plenty of bacteria that end up in your gut, but your bloodstream is also a convenient form of transport. Each time you chew, brush, or floss, these germs get pushed into small vessels in your gums.
“Teeth are made of the same cell structure as bone,” said Mark Burhenne, DDS, founder of AsktheDentist.com. “They’re unique, however, in that they’re the only component of the body that breaks through skin with a bone at the base.”
The base of each of your teeth is protected by what’s called biological width.
“Think of it as a protective gasket where, in a healthy mouth, the immune system keeps bugs from entering the body and causing infection,” Burhenne said.
But when you have chronic gum disease or other oral infections,
this seal breaks down.
“As oral bacteria breaks into the bloodstream, it can travel to organs throughout the body, including the brain,” Burhenne explained.
When Mouth Germs Go Rogue
One known organism with the ability to cause harm in other parts of the body is Porphyromonas Gingivalis, or Pg.
“Pg is full of surprises and deserves far more attention than it gets,” said Jan Potempa, PhD, DSc, a professor at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry, head of the department of Microbiology at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and a Researcher for the study. “It’s a true gang leader converting good microbes into bad ones.”
Depending on where in the body it decides to go, Pg has been linked to a number of serious health issues, including pneumonia, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, hepatitis, and esophageal cancer.
Researchers now know it can sneak across the blood-brain barrier, a network of dense cells that protects the brain from harmful substances. Once there, Pg can cause pathological changes.
Potempa and other researchers observed Pg in the brains of deceased people with Alzheimer’s disease. But what was truly surprising was “finding Pg major proteins, called gingipains, in the brains at a level much higher than in mentally healthy people of the same age,” Potempa said.
And when mice were orally infected with Pg, the same DNA fingerprint was discovered in their brains, as well as the changes typically seen in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
“This result not only strongly supports that Pg brain infection may underline Alzheimer’s disease, but it pinpoints gingipains as major factors,” Potempa said.
Gum Warfare
In the study, Potempa and other researchers also tested the ability of an experimental drug known as COR388 to neutralize gingipains and block brain infection.
In animals who received it, “not only was the level of Pg DNA reduced, but also the pathology typical for [Alzheimer’s disease] did not develop in their brains,” Potempa said.
“Migration of bacteria from one part of the body is a natural process. You can’t completely prevent it,” Fourre said. “But the number of bacteria that can get into the bloodstream may be reduced by improved Oral Care.”
“There are billions of bacteria in the mouth, and it’s important to keep it on the healthy side of the spectrum,” she said.
Here’s How To Do This:
Brush And Floss
And always do this for a full two minutes.
“By disorganizing the biofilm on your teeth when you brush, you’re able to prevent the acid attacks brought on by bad bacteria gathering on a particular area,” Burhenne said.
Flossing is just as important. It helps dislodge bits of food that would otherwise collect bacteria and contribute to inflammation and infection on the gums.
Go Easy On The Mouthwash
Burhenne doesn’t recommend mouthwash as part of a daily dental routine. “It’s too disruptive to the oral microbiome to allow for proper growth of good bacteria,” he said.
“Compare it to using antibiotics: On occasions, this may be helpful to get rid of Infection, but if you’d use Antibiotics often or all the time you’d eventually have no Immune System left,” Burhenne added.
Eat More Fruits And Vegetables
A Veterans Affairs study of 625 men found that eating high-fiber foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, reduced the progression of gum disease. Fiber creates more saliva in the mouth, which helps get rid of excess food and offsets harmful acids.
Rinse With Water After Meals
Instead of reaching for the mouthwash, “[You’re] much better off to rinse your mouth with water after high-carb meals and snacks then brush 30 to 45 minutes later,” Burhenne said. “Water helps buffer the collection of bacteria until you can brush.”
Be Vigilant If You Already Have A Health Issue
“People with certain diseases are more at risk for oral disease because they’ve already experienced a failure of the immune system,” Burhenne said. “It’s easy for some people to see dental or oral problems as a completely separate thing from other illness or disease, but that’s not how the body works.”
Article Source HERE