Gum disease ups the risk of cancer

The cancer risk lurking in your mouth

Taking a trip to the dentist is never on anyone’s shortlist of favorite things to do.

Your mouth gets poked… your teeth get scraped… and your gums might bleed… especially if you’ve been a little lax with the mint-waxed floss.

But according to the latest science, that brief discomfort is NOTHING compared to what you may suffer if you don’t keep up with regular hygiene and dental visits.

You see, your mouth is full of bacteria — both good and bad. And if the bad critters take over due to poor oral care, they could damage the soft tissue and bone that support your teeth… leaving you with chronic gum disease (a.k.a. “periodontitis”).

Your pink gums become red and sensitive, and your pearly whites could even FALL OUT!

But even THAT’S not the worst of it — because new research shows that having severe gum disease in your mouth could make it more likely that you’ll develop cancer elsewhere in your body.

In a study out of Tufts University, nearly 7,500 patients were given dental exams and then followed for over 20 years.

By the end of the study, those who had severe periodontitis at the beginning were almost 25 percent more likely to develop ANY kind of cancer than those who’d started the study with either mild or no periodontitis.

The risk was highest for lung cancer. Compared to those who began the study with healthy gums, those with severe gum disease had more than DOUBLE the risk of cancer in their lungs.

And that was true even if they’d never before smoked a cigarette!

Imagine that — being a nonsmoker for your whole life and winding up with diseased lungs simply because you let your oral care slide.

Colorectal cancer was a close runner-up to lung cancer: Those with the most diseased gums had an 80 percent greater risk of colorectal cancer than those with healthy gums.

The theory is that the same nasty bacteria that wreak havoc in your mouth can migrate “south” to your respiratory and digestive tracts.

And the danger doesn’t end there — because infected gums have also been linked to everything from heart disease to diabetes to pancreatic cancer.

Now, regular brushing, flossing, and dental check-ups go a long way toward maintaining a healthy smile. But even the best dental care may not be enough to stave off the harmful bacteria that cause gum disease.

Laying off cigarettes and booze… eating a healthy diet… and resolving gastric reflux can all improve your mouth’s bacterial makeup.

And chewing gum sweetened only with xylitol — which is derived from plant fiber — after meals can also reduce your levels of harmful mouth bacteria and keep them from sticking to your teeth.

Now, when cancer strikes, you may be inclined to go through the whole battery of conventional treatments — including surgery, chemo, and radiation. And if that’s the case with you, you’ll want to keep an eye out for my next eTips later this afternoon, where I’ll share a natural and delicious way to make your radiation treatments even more effective.