In a recent study published in Scientific Reports, researchers determined whether the frequency of brushing one’s teeth increases the chance of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in patients aged 20 years or older.

Study: Not brushing teeth at night may increase the chance of heart problems. Image Credit: Ground Picture / Shtuterstock.com

Background

Several previous studies have emphasized the importance of perioperative oral care and management in patients with malignant cancers, in addition to respiratory, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular diseases.

A lot of these reports have focused on the time of tooth brushing within the context of demineralization of the teeth. Nevertheless, these reports didn’t explore the connection between toothbrush time and systemic diseases, including CVD.

Concerning the study

The individuals included on this study were hospitalized on the Osaka University Hospital in Japan between April 2013 and March 2016 for examination, surgery, or treatment. Patients who visited the hospital’s Unit of Dentistry to hunt dental treatment, perioperative oral care, and screening for infection were also considered for the evaluation.

Taken together, the 1,675 study participants were classified into 4 groups. Group MN reported brushing their teeth twice day by day, once after waking up and again at night, whereas group Night reported brushing their teeth just once at night. Group M reported brushing their teeth only after waking up, whereas group None didn’t brush their teeth.

The variety of participants in each group was 409, 751, 164, and 259, respectively. The variety of men in group M was 4 times that of girls on this group.

Groups Night and MN had the very best percentage of people who reported brushing their teeth after lunch at 44.9% and 24%, respectively. Few study participants in groups M and None reported brushing their teeth after lunch. 

The researchers evaluated each participant’s age, gender, smoking history, and follow-up results. As well as, 4 independent investigators retrospectively reviewed the dental and medical records of all study participants.

One dentist investigated oral health, pre-hospitalization frequency and time of toothbrushing, the depth of periodontal pockets, the extent of tooth mobility, and teeth count.

Several cardiovascular events were considered within the study, which included CVD-related hospitalization for heart failure, arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, and valvular and aortic diseases requiring surgery.

A proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the association between the remark items and the occurrence of cardiovascular events and life prognosis. For subgroup evaluation stratified by smoking status, Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate the time from the participants’ dentistry visit to check endpoints of death or the tip of the study period. All statistical analyses considered P-values lower than 0.05 as significant.

Study findings

Based on blood samples obtained at hospital admission, all participants had similar C-reactive protein (CRP), hemoglobin, albumin, creatinine, and HbA1c levels but different brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels. Groups MN and Night had significantly higher survival rates as in comparison with Group None.

All study participants had similar smoking statuses; nevertheless, they’d various dental parameters. For instance, group MN had probably the most participants with dental pocket depths exceeding eight millimeters (mm). As in comparison with groups Night and M, more patients in groups None and MN had a dental mobility index of three.

Of their clinical practice, the researchers encountered many middle-aged and older individuals who didn’t brush their teeth at night. Of their interviews, lots of these patients mentioned they consumed alcohol at night, which caused them to turn into too drained and never brush their teeth.

In each study group, several individuals reported not brushing their teeth at night. This may occasionally be on account of habits learned from their parents during childhood, lifestyle, and regional variations. General disinterest in dental hygiene is one more reason people don’t brush their teeth at night and after lunch. 

Breakfast and lunch have been shown to extend the chance of intraoral deposits that remain within the mouth throughout the day and, in consequence, increase the chance of dental caries and other periodontal diseases. Thus, brushing only within the morning after waking up is insufficient and implies poor oral hygiene. Moreover, brushing one’s teeth at night is crucial to take care of good oral health, which supports the hypothesis that intraoral bacterial load surges during sleep on account of reduced salivary flow.

Conclusions

The study findings reiterate that while brushing teeth before breakfast is mandatory, brushing teeth at night before going to bed is much more vital to forestall CVDs.