That brings back the memory of a guy who died from an abscessed tooth on the Big Island when I was living in Honolulu. It sounded horrific. The news treated it as a big deal since Hawaii prides itself on its public health, so there was a graphic description, and politicians vowed never to let it happen again.
I got divorced at 40 my teeth were pretty good. I wasn’t brushing as often as I had in the past. Very often I would only brush in the morning. Within 3 years my teeth suffered badly. maybe they were do to start failing but I think now it was my own fault.
My wife’s son-in-law seldom if ever, brushes his teeth. He’s 38 now and beginning his long journey down the dental implant highway and has little money for the tolls. I hope someone drives him because he’s also an idiot.
Hmm…That seems like a balanced response.
I think alot would depend upon your diet. We eat alot more sugar than in the past.
I don’t know why some people are getting their knickers in a knot about this. I’m British, and I’m not offended, the British do have bad teeth. Even the Queen has bad teeth.
I took it as a joke and laughed so hard my dentures nearly fell out.
Speaking from personal experience, not much happens. I didn’t brush my teeth for years. Maybe once a month or so. Good genetics, I guess, because I have good teeth. I went years between seeing a dentist - I think the biggest gap was seven years. When I finally got a job with dental benefits, I saw my dentist. That ended up with me being referred to a periodontist and spending many hours in his chair getting all the built up crap scraped out from under my gums and trying to stop the process of my teeth rotting out of my head, as my mother had told me they would if I didn’t brush them. But that was years of neglect, not just one.
Thin skin, I guess. Although I must admit, it wasn’t the most original of tropes. Still taking such strong exception seems an over-reaction.
I’d offer amanset an opportunity to retaliate, but I’m Canadian and therefore practically perfect in every way. 
Calculus can Kill!:eek: No wonder people have math anxiety.
Or living in remote Alaska. Ever see Chip Hailstone on “Life Below Zero”? Like that.
I don’t think it is a “one size fits all”. Some people may do quite well, and other folks, as mentioned in previous posts, may get an infection and it could be deadly (septic shock).
That is right, some people get cavities and perio while taking good care of their teeth. Some people don’t do squat and have no problems.
Has a 40 y.o. patient with the most perfect teeth I’ve ever seen. All 32, perfect alignment, no decay, no restorations and no gingival inflamation or perio problems. Only brushed his teeth once or twice a week.
Sugar and fermentable carbohydrates are the enemy. But everyone reacts differently. Things like saliva flow and shape of the teeth also matter.
We had a pathology specimen in dental school of a guy who had an abcess on an upper canine. It spread behind the eye along the optic nerve to the brain causing death. So yeah not brushing could lead to death be it is very unlikely.
My brother turns 68 next week. He hasn’t been to a dentist since he was 21. I never known him to brush or floss. He has horrible teeth to look at. Almost green in color, the molars are black on top. He doesn’t have bad breath, he has rotting smelling breath. If he ever needs an operation I bet the doctors will not do it till he has his teeth fixed. Doesn’t bother him at all. He never even thinks what people think of him.
I was once handed a cat with teeth so rotten that the puss from the infection was coming out of his ears. We had to have him put down because the abscesses in the brain were too severe to treat.
I think the regular pro cleanings are probably more important than the brushing. That’s just speculation based on personal experience though. I’ve always done my daily dental hygiene faithfully but I hate dentists so I haven’t seen one in 20 years. The results have been less than satisfying although I haven’t had an issue that has required an emergency appointment. But I do have partially rotted front bottom teeth and serious calculus buildup around the gums. I’ve decided to finally do it because it’s just not good.
It’s genetics and diet. I think for the most part, if you don’t rinse your mouth with sugar like a lot of people do, you might be alright. I was terrible at brushing my teeth when I was a kid, but I drank a lot of water and little sugar. My daughter is the same and she has no issues. my step-son (none of my genetics, obviously) had to have several teeth removed, fillings, crowns, spacers, etc. Using the same routine, mostly.
That specific kind of death is unlikely, but death with periodontitis as a distal cause is not so unlikely. Chronic periodontal disease dumps C reactive protein and other inflammatory markers associated with heart disease into the bloodstream, and this may increase risk of heart attack and stroke. There’s also a growing correlation (not cause, but still enough to warrant extra attention and care) between oral disease and cardiovascular disease, bacterial pneumonia, diabetes mellitus, and low birth weight. All of those conditions bring with them a substantially increased risk of death.
It’s not that hard to imagine. You stop flossing and brushing. The build up of plaque - which is nothing more than a bacteriological biofilm - increases exposure to bacteria, and you develop a chronic case of periodontitis with inflamed, painful gums. Both the inflammatory cytokines and the bacteria from the infection make their way into your circulatory system. The cytokines increase inflammation in other parts of your body, especially the heart, and the bacteria lodge in places where the immune system has a difficult time finding and fighting them. If you’re diabetic, you less able to fight off infection. Same goes for pregnant women and people already coping with an overwhelming infection like pneumonia.
of course it is unlikely but worst case for sure. I don’t pesonally know of any deaths directly caused by not brushing. I have seen several patients that had to be hospitalized due to an infection/abcess.
My ex-roommate would usually wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, drink coffee and spend an hour or so doing other things before brushing his teeth just before leaving for work. AFAIK, he never brushed at night either. Swallowing all that bacteria first thing in the morning didn’t seem to damage his health. But then, he was very healthy and active.
What kind of bacteria breed inside the mouth? It is inevitable that some of them get into the body when we swallow in our sleep, so maybe the body has learnt to deal with it over the eons.
I applaud your imagination, well played.