Skipping nightly toothbrushing could heighten cardiovascular disease risk

In a recent study published in scientific reportresearchers investigated whether the frequency of brushing teeth increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients aged 20 years and older.

study: Not brushing your teeth at night can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Image credit: Ground Picture / Shtuterstock.com

Background

Several previous studies have highlighted the importance of perioperative oral care and management in patients with malignant cancer as well as respiratory, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular disease.

Many of these reports focus on brushing time in terms of tooth demineralization. However, these reports did not explore the relationship between toothbrushing time and systemic disease, including CVD.

About research

People included in this study were admitted to Osaka University Hospital in Japan for examination, surgery, or treatment from April 2013 to March 2016. Patients who visited the hospital dentist for dental care, perioperative oral care, and infection screening were also included in the analysis.

In total, the 1,675 study participants were classified into four groups. The MN group reported that he brushed his teeth twice a day, once after waking up, and again at night, whereas the evening group reported that he only brushed once at night. Group M reported brushing their teeth only after waking up, whereas No group reported not brushing their teeth.

The number of participants in each group was 409, 751, 164 and 259 respectively. There were four times as many males in the M group as there were females in this group.

The evening and Minnesota groups were most likely to report brushing their teeth after lunch, at 44.9% and 24%, respectively. Few study participants in Group M and No Group reported brushing their teeth after lunch.

The researchers assessed each participant’s age, sex, smoking history, and follow-up results. In addition, four independent investigators retrospectively reviewed the dental and medical records of all study participants.

A dentist surveyed oral health, frequency and duration of prehospital brushing, periodontal pocket depth, range of tooth movement, and number of teeth.

This study examined several cardiovascular events, including heart failure, arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and CVD-related hospitalizations due to valvular and aortic disease requiring surgery.

A proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the relationship between observations, incidence of cardiovascular events, and life prognosis. Subgroup analyzes stratified by smoking status used Kaplan-Meier curves to estimate the time from the participant’s dental visit to the study endpoint of death or the end of the study period.Consider all statistical analyzes P.– Values ​​less than 0.05 are significant.

research result

Based on blood samples taken on admission, all participants had similar C-reactive protein (CRP), hemoglobin, albumin, creatinine, and HbA1c levels, but differed brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. The MN and night groups had significantly higher survival rates compared to the no group.

All study participants had similar smoking status. However, tooth parameters varied. For example, group MN had the most participants with periodontal pocket depth greater than 8 millimeters (mm). There were more patients with a dental mobility index of 3 in the None and MN groups compared to the Night and M groups.

In clinical settings, the researchers encountered many middle-aged and elderly people who did not brush their teeth at night. In interviews, many of these patients said that they drank alcohol at night and were too tired to brush their teeth.

In each study group, several people reported not brushing their teeth at night. This may be due to habits, lifestyles and regional differences learned from parents in childhood. General indifference to dental hygiene is another reason people don’t brush their teeth at night and after lunch.

Breakfast and lunch have been shown to increase the risk of oral deposits that remain in the mouth throughout the day, thus increasing the risk of tooth decay and other periodontal diseases. Therefore, just brushing your teeth after waking up in the morning is not enough, which means that your oral hygiene is deteriorating. Furthermore, nighttime brushing is very important for maintaining oral health, supporting the hypothesis that oral bacterial load spikes during sleep due to decreased salivary flow.

Conclusion

The results of this study reiterate that while brushing your teeth before breakfast is necessary, brushing your teeth before going to bed at night is even more important in preventing CVD.