Resolve to take better care of your dental and physical health

It’s resolution time.  If we all kept those resolutions, by March we’d have lost over 10 pounds, become financially stable, reorganized our closets and be on the way to competing in our first triathlon.

Realistically, we have good intentions but just don’t stick with the program – or we take on too much as once.  That’s why I was intrigued by Huffington Post health writer Eva Norlyk Smith’s blog The Complete Couch Potato’s Guide to a Healthy 2010:  Ten Easy Ways to Improve Health.

Of course I loved her first one – Floss Your Teeth.  If my patients only followed one New Year’s resolution, flossing their teeth at least twice a day would be the one I’d choose.

Norlyk Smith points out that not only does flossing help prevent periodontal disease, but that it may help prevent heart attacks and strokes and lower your risk of diabetes – something you’ve heard me preaching about for a long time.   She also points to studies done in the United Kingdom that suggest that the gum disease can also affect your mental functioning.  

Flossing is a simple thing to do and the benefits – reducing your risk of gum disease, preventing heart attack and stroke, lowering your diabetes risk and staying mentally sharp are well worth it.  

Her other tips are important as well.  Norlyk Smith talks about on the importance of:

• Vitamin D for overall health
• Not drinking soda
• Hanging out with people who have healthy habits
• Not slumping
• Focusing on happiness
• Avoiding processed foods
• Arriving early and giving yourself extra time on deadlines so that you’re not always time pressured
• Getting adequate sleep
• Reconnect with your body and listen to it

 All good advice.  I urge you to read her post.  If you qualify as a couch potato, take it to heart.   And make flossing your first resolution.

Unfortunately I – and every Dentistry For Diabetics^SM dentist – see plenty of people who neglect their oral health care basics – like flossing – and end up with gum disease.   If you have diabetes or prediabetes, this can make your control more difficult.  Why not talk your health and oral health issues over with Dentistry For Diabetics^SM dentist who is extensively trained in the interactions between type 2 diabetes and gum disease.  Follow this link to find a Dentistry For Diabetics^SM dentist near you who knows how to lower blood sugar.