Healthy Dental Tips: Scientists Say This One Habit Can Lower The Risk Of Stroke!

0
Healthy Dental Tips: Scientists Say This One Habit Can Lower The Risk Of Stroke!

Be more frequent with flossing, which is understood to increase your chances of leading healthier, disease-free life, by lowering the risk of stroke, scientists say.

Healthy Dental Tips: Scientists Say This One Habit Can Lower The Risk Of Stroke!
Flossing is the process of using dental floss to clean the spaces between teeth and along the gum line. It is done to prevent the formation of cavities and diseases of the gum. (Photo: Freepik)



Written by Prerna Mittra |Published : February 3, 2025 12:09 PM IST

Dental health is directly linked to overall health and well-being, which is why doctors insist one brushes their teeth twice every day, and is regular with dental checkups. Maintaining dental hygiene is paramount, because according to scientists, being regular with one specific habit can significantly reduce the risk of stroke. It is ‘flossing‘, which experts believe when done at least once a week, can lower the risk of stroke that is caused by blood clots and irregular heartbeats — a new study states. The research — slated to be presented this week at the International Stroke Conference 2025 in Los Angeles, California — purportedly looks at how often people floss their teeth and follow other dental hygiene habits, including brushing. The study’s lead author Souvik Sen from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, was quoted as saying that as per a recent global health report, oral diseases like ‘untreated tooth decay’ and ‘gum disease’ became the most widespread health conditions around the world, because affected as many as 3.5 billion people in 2022. “We aimed to determine which oral hygiene behaviour — dental flossing, brushing or regular dentist visits — has the greatest impact on stroke prevention,” Sen was quoted as saying.

During the course of the research, scientists attempted to find out how often people use dental floss at home, through a questionnaire. Of 6,000 people, it was found among those who flossed regularly, 4,092 had ‘not experienced a stroke’ and 4,050 had ‘not been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat’. According to some studies done in the past, irregularities in heartbeat are known to cause stroke, heart attack, heart failure, and other health complications.

Interestingly, according to the study, participants also revealed other health parameters such as the existence of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, whether they smoked, their body mass index, their education level, and details about their regular brushing and visits to the dentist. The research period lasted over 25 years, and it was found that 434 participants suffered from strokes — 147 of them from ‘larger artery brain clots’; 97 individuals from ‘heart-driven clots’; and 95 from ‘hardening of the smaller arteries’. As many as 1,291 individuals were reported to have experienced an ‘irregular heartbeat’.

During analysis of the data, scientists found flossing was linked to a ’22 per cent lower risk of ischemic stroke‘ — a life-threatening health condition that happens when the flow of blood to the brain is blocked. For the unversed, flossing — an important part of oral hygiene — is the process of using dental floss to clean the spaces between teeth and along the gum line. It is done to prevent the formation of cavities and diseases of the gum.

It was also revealed that this particular dental hygiene habit is linked to a ’44 per cent lower risk of blood clots travelling from the heart’ and about ’12 per cent lower risk of irregular heartbeats’. “Oral health behaviours are linked to inflammation and artery hardening. Flossing may reduce stroke risk by lowering oral infections and inflammation and encouraging other healthy habits,” Dr Sen was quoted as saying in an Independent report.



link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *