As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, I not only look to teach my clients about health and fitness, but I am just as open to learning from them through their lives and experiences. Recently, I had a conversation with a successful dentist, who is also a client, about the health of teeth. Basically, he said that your teeth can say a lot about you. More specifically, you can tell a lot about people by how healthy or unhealthy their teeth are.
Healthy teeth, healthy habits
Taking care of your teeth reflects a number of habits, including:
- The nutritional choices you make;
- The consistency of brushing;
- Flossing regularly (ensuring that you take the time for extra care);
- Getting regular cleanings and checkups (preventive versus reactive care).
The choices you make dictate your future. What we do affects our lives five, 10 and 20 years from now, especially when it comes to our health and wellness. The big things. The little things. All the things.
People don’t take the time to floss regularly? Not surprising if they don’t find the time for other healthy habits such as exercise and movement.
Poor nutritional choices? These rot not only the teeth and gums but are detrimental to what goes on inside the rest of the body as well.
Neglect cleanings, checkups and care? It wouldn’t be far-fetched to surmise that these individuals neglect other important health and safety markers in their lives. Or that the negligent don’t take pride in their appearances, their homes and their cars.
As one of my favorite sayings goes, “How you do anything is how you do everything.”
Controlling what we can
Do genetics play a factor? Of course, and they play a factor in everything in our lives. But there are still a ton of factors that we can indeed control. Why not control what you can control instead of simply throwing in the towel completely because you feel like you got dealt a bad genetic hand?
People who neglect these daily healthy habits eventually face the consequences. In a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Hypertension, researchers reviewing the data of nearly 53,000 hypertensive patients reported that participants who developed five or more cavities during an 11-year time frame were 37% more likely to have a stroke or heart attack.
Father Time is still undefeated and all we can do is respect our bodies the best we can to live as gracefully as possible. However, there is no rule that says teeth should be falling out when you are 60 or 70 years old. There is nothing set in stone that says you have to have teeth problems when you get older.
As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, there can be a big difference between health span and life span. If your life span brings you to 90, but your health span started to decline at 60 only for you to have 30 years of medications, doctor visits, poor health, cognitive decline and orthopedic issues, than that’s a really rough 30 years not only on you but the ones around you.
Maybe having simple habits as brushing your teeth at least twice a day, flossing daily, using an antiseptic mouthwash and getting regular cleanings and care can carry over to other aspects of life, such as daily movement; having good, regular sleep patterns; and consuming nutritious foods.
Maybe, just maybe, how you do anything is truly how you do everything.
Reach Giovanni at giovanniroselli.com.
