You know the old saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? Look at this stunning data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
26% of adults 65 or older have eight or fewer teeth
17% of adults 65 or older have lost all of their teeth
The CDC also notes that losing teeth correlates with lower income, and lower educated (defined as less than a high school education) citizens, and/or current cigarette smokers. People who fall into these categories “are more than three times as likely to have lost all their teeth as the comparison groups,” it adds.
This is disastrous. Tooth loss, the CDC points out, “impacts the ability to eat meats, fruits, and vegetables, and presents yet another challenge to having a healthy diet.” Even worse: tooth loss is linked to major killers like heart disease, cancers, diabetes and more. This isn’t rocket science. We all know that things like brushing our teeth and flossing should be part of our everyday routines, and that such basic maintenance of our choppers goes a long way toward staying healthy and preventing long-term, even life-threatening, problem …