And in today's Health Watch, there's growing evidence that when you floss, your oral health improves.

在今天的 "健康觀察 "中，越來越多的證據表明，使用牙線可以改善口腔健康。

It's beneficial for not only your mouth, but your heart and your brain, this got me, over all our mouths have a lot of bacteria, 700 different individual species of bacteria.

它不僅有益於你的口腔，還有益於你的心臟和大腦，這讓我很感動，因為我們的口腔裡有很多細菌，有 700 種不同的細菌。

And research has found a potential link between some of that bacteria and Alzheimer's disease, and people with poor dental health are possibly more at risk.

研究發現，某些細菌與阿爾茨海默病之間存在潛在聯繫，而牙齒健康狀況不佳的人面臨的風險可能更大。

Not good, CBS News medical contributor, Dr. Celine Gounder, editor Lars for public health at KFF Health News joins us now.

不好，CBS新聞的醫學撰稿人、KFF健康新聞的公共衛生編輯拉爾斯-席琳-戈德（Celine Gounder）博士現在加入我們。

Dr. Gounder, I was flossing skeptical for years.

古德醫生，多年來我一直對使用牙線持懷疑態度。

I'm now a full convert, have been for more than a year now, my dentist is very happy.

我現在是完全皈依者，已經一年多了，我的牙醫非常滿意。

What's this connection, this link between flossing and brain health?

牙線和大腦健康之間有什麼聯繫？

Well, you think about, uh, what, what is poor gum health, poor dental health?

那麼，你想想，呃，什麼是牙齦健康不佳，什麼是牙齒健康不佳？

It's really a bacterial infection.

這其實是一種細菌感染。

That's what they're also cleaning when you go see the dentist, they're removing plaque and bacteria.

當你去看牙醫時，他們也在清潔牙菌斑和細菌。

Bacteria, uh, you have chronic inflammation, chronic infection, chronic inflammation.

細菌會引起慢性發炎、慢性感染和慢性發炎。

We know that chronic inflammation increases your risk for heart disease, for uh, cerebrovascular disease, so brain disease.

我們知道，慢性發炎會增加患心臟病、腦血管疾病（即腦部疾病）的風險。

Um, and so it's really important to control these things, now, um, in addition to the chronic inflammation, that also increases um amyloid in the brain, which we know is connected with Alzheimer's.

嗯，所以控制這些東西真的很重要，現在，嗯，除了慢性發炎，這也會增加大腦中的澱粉樣蛋白，我們知道這與阿爾茨海默氏症有關。

And amyloid is like a it's a protein kind of plaque that you get in the brain.

澱粉樣蛋白是一種蛋白質，是大腦中的一種斑塊。

Um, the bacteria that are associated with gum disease, um, produce enzymes which can be directly toxic to nerves.

與牙齦疾病相關的細菌會產生酶，直接毒害神經。

And in addition, they weaken the barrier between the blood and the brain.

此外，它們還會削弱血液和大腦之間的屏障。

And so that allows for other toxins.

這樣一來，就有可能產生其他毒素。

So even though we're talking about bacteria in the mouth, there's a direct connection between the brain and the heart because it's carrying this bacteria in the bloodstream, is that what's happening?

是以，儘管我們談論的是口腔中的細菌，但大腦和心臟之間卻有著直接的聯繫，因為血液中攜帶著這種細菌，是這樣嗎？

Right, so what's happening is when you have uh gum disease, when you have dental problems, the bacteria in your mouth are getting into the blood, and then from the blood, they can travel anywhere, including the heart, including the brain.

沒錯，當你有牙齦疾病或牙齒問題時，口腔中的細菌就會進入血液，然後從血液中傳播到任何地方，包括心臟和大腦。

Dr. Gounder, I am not a good flosser.

古德醫生，我不擅長使用牙線。

And it's it's one of the things I really need to improve about myself.

這也是我需要改進的地方之一。

Um, can using mouthwash be as effective or or those like water pick things that spew water?

嗯，使用漱口水能起到同樣的效果嗎？

Water picks are better than nothing.

水鎬聊勝於無。

Um, mouthwash is not a substitute.

嗯，漱口水不能替代。

Because what you're really doing is mechanically removing the bacteria and some of the plaque that is building up between the teeth and there's really no replacement for something like flossing.

因為你真正在做的是用機械的方法清除細菌和一些堆積在牙齒之間的牙菌斑，而牙線這種東西是無法替代的。

But if you watch a mouthwash commercial, they'll tell you 99.999% of bacteria killed.

但如果你看漱口水廣告，他們會告訴你 99.999% 的細菌都被殺死了。

Yeah.

是啊

Yeah, I've seen those commercials.

是啊，我看過那些廣告。

Right, but within the plaque, you can still have bacteria.

沒錯，但在牙菌斑內，還是會有細菌的。

So they're not they're only getting some of the surface stuff, not all of the stuff that's building up in between.

是以，他們並不是只得到了一些表面的東西，而沒有得到中間積累的所有東西。

So talk me about the heart connection, how does it go from mouth to heart?

那麼，跟我談談心與心的聯繫，它是如何從口到心的？

In fact, this used to be one of the most common ways people would get heart infections.

事實上，這曾經是人們感染心臟疾病的最常見方式之一。

Um, what?

嗯，什麼？

Yes, yes.

是的，是的。

So very right now, my husband is like his dental health is on point.

現在，我丈夫的牙齒健康狀況非常好。

Like every night he gets up to brush his teeth and I'm like cardiologist know because what would happen is you'd have dental infections, the bacteria would spread through your bloodstream, would infect your heart valves and cause heart failure.

比如每天晚上他起床刷牙，我就想讓心臟病醫生知道，因為這樣做的後果就是你的牙齒會受到感染，細菌會在你的血液中傳播，感染你的心臟瓣膜，導致心力衰竭。

So this was something we saw a lot uh before, you know, we came uh before we had antibiotics, so back in the 1800s and so on, this was not an uncommon thing to see.

是以，在有抗生素之前，我們就經常看到這種情況，所以早在19世紀等時期，這種情況並不少見。

So do you floss once a day, twice a day, after every meal, how often?

那麼，您是每天使用一次牙線，還是每天使用兩次，還是每餐後使用，頻率如何？

The recommendation is once a day.

建議每天一次。

But if you're somebody what about you, Dr. Gounder?

但如果你是某個人 那你呢 古德醫生？

I I once a day uh before bed.

我每天一次，呃，睡前。

But um if you have dental problems, if you're somebody who has um gingivitis, receding gums, if you're somebody who has diabetes or heart disease, you may actually want to floss twice a day.

但是，如果你有牙齒問題，如果你有牙齦炎、牙齦退縮，如果你有糖尿病或心臟病，你可能真的需要每天使用兩次牙線。

This is so important, so many people are affected by Alzheimer's disease, and if there is something, you know, obviously being healthy, exercising all helps, but flossing, who knew?

這一點非常重要，很多人都受到阿爾茨海默病的影響，如果有什麼東西，你知道，顯然健康、鍛鍊都有幫助，但用牙線，誰知道呢？

Yeah.

是啊

Yeah.

是啊

I'm going to go buy some new flossing tools.

我要去買一些新的牙線工具。

You got to get on it, really.

你一定要加油，真的。

It's just the whole thing and even the pick.

這只是整件事情，甚至是鎬。

You clearly have healthy teeth, but you you're skating on good genetics.

很明顯，你的牙齒很健康，但你的遺傳基因很好。

You need to take care.

你需要小心。

My mom told me, she's like, have you made a dentist appointment? and I was like, I will.

我媽媽告訴我，她說你預約牙醫了嗎？

Anyway.

無論如何

Dr. Gounder, thank you so much.

Gounder 博士，非常感謝。