Welcome to Running: A FEVER. My name is Michael Davis. This is a podcast about fitness, diet, and medicine. My goal is to live a long, healthy, happy, active life right up to the very end. And I do that by loving my life enough to make it last as long as possible. If these things resonate with you, you’re in the right place. Come along, and we’ll get there together.

Today we are starting a new series on dental health. Why is dental health important? Does it really fit within the bounds of fitness, diet, and medicine? Well, yes! We’re going to talk about fitness. We’re going to talk about how what you eat and when you eat can impact your dental health. And at a minimum, dental care is part of your overall medical life.

In fact there are many impacts to your overall health and some particulary important physical systems that are directly affected by dental health. For example, the shape of your gums (or gum fitness), if poor, can cause heart attack and stroke. We’ll talk about why, but that in itself is a good reason to pay attention to your gums and keep them healthy.

There are other diseases on which the state of your mouth has an impact. One study found a 70% higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease for people over 50 with gum disease. Inflammation in the mouth increases the risk of cancer.

Dental aspects of fitness and health also affect diabetes management and pregnancy.

Hopefully, I’ve piqued your interest in dental health, and you’re ready to hear more. So let me break down the series topics for you in the order we’ll cover them:

1. This episode is the introduction.
2. In part 2, we’ll discuss dry mouth.
3. Part 3 is about diet.
4. In Part 4, we’ll learn what biofilm is.
5. Part 5 is on genetics.
6. In part 6, we’ll look at the importance of pH.
The next three episodes will be all about taking action to remedy the problems we’ve discussed thus far.
7. In part seven, we’ll talk about protection.
9. In part eight, we’ll talk about planning.
10. And finally, part 10 will summarize and conclude the series.

As you can see from the topics, we’re not just going to be getting a pep-talk on brushing, flossing, and not eating candy to prevent cavities. We’re introducing a new way of looking at this topic. Dental health is about taking care of your teeth, but we need to know why we have dental problems and understand the how and why before committing to changes, which include some types of care you’ve probably never heard of.

If you have cavities, periodontitis, or other serious problems, it is not necessarily your fault. Other factors are in play. And knowing that and why that is can help us have a better attitude about taking care of ourselves. And that’s what Running: A FEVER is all about. Don’t just love your life; love your teeth, too! I hope you’ll join me for the rest of the series.

I hope you’ve gotten something from this episode as well. I know I have learned a few things from preparing it. Remember to subscribe on YouTube—it helps us promote the show and just takes one click! As always, if you’ve got the fever, keep it burning. And if you don’t, catch the fever, and I will talk to you next time on Running: A FEVER.

Reference:
Kutsch, V. Kim. Why Me? The unfair reason you get cavities and what to do about it. Anacortes, Washington: Soapbox Publishing, 2020.