Give Your Valentine the Gift of Longevity with Heart Health

Love in the air? Love for your family and friends, always at the center of your life? Then don’t neglect your oral health, and don’t shy aware from health conversations with others. It’s not just about kissing. A healthy mouth supports a healthy, energetic body and makes it possible to live a longer life.

A couple of websites and website articles will interest my Boynton Beach dental patients, who are concerned about their overall health, just as I am of my own.

I think the first one that will interest you is the CDC blog “Strong Men Put Their Heart Health First.” Back in the day when dentists were mostly men, there were lots of conversations at continuing dental education courses about the higher risk of heart disease among sedentary males, and we were challenging each other to start running or to play an aerobic sport like tennis on a regular basis. Over the last twenty years, there has been an enormous amount of research in heart disease…to the point that we can say with great clarity that simple daily heart-focused habits will increase not only the lives of men but also women.

Good Health Begins with Heart Health

The CDC blog encourages us to make small changes in our daily lives that can make a big difference in our overall health–with heart health being the focus.
• Schedule a heart consultation with your physician.
• Add exercise to your daily routine.
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Take steps to stop smoking.
• Take medications only as prescribed.

I will add another bullet point:
• Have regular oral exams and follow your dentist’s recommendations for treatment of any present gum disease.

An April 2015 study by the Forsyth Institute has been in the press for almost two years. The study is relevant to all adults. It uncovered a strong correlation between the treatment of gum disease and the reduction of inflammation of the test rabbits’ artery walls. Now, don’t laugh this off as “just a rabbit study.” Medical researchers and interdisciplinary scientists like those at the Forsythe Institute have taken this very seriously, and research is making strides in our understanding of oral bacteria and viruses. I will be following their research and reports because the Forsyth Institute is the only independent research organization in the U.S., dedicated to understanding the important connections between oral health and overall wellness. They are shaping the direction of personalized medicine with research that will help us use new diagnostics, devices, and therapies in oral health care.

~Jamie J. Alexander, D.D.S., Your Boynton Beach Dentist