Welcome to Life Noggin.

歡迎來到 Life Noggin

You know those nights where you're lying in bed and realize you forgot to brush your teeth

你知道那些當你躺在床上卻想到你忘記刷牙的夜晚

and you go, "Do I really need to get up?"

而你想，「我真的需要起來刷牙嗎？」

Well, skipping one night wouldn't be the end of the world

一個晚上沒刷並不會是世界末日，

but what would happen if you never brushed your teeth?

不過如果你從來都不刷牙會發生什麼事呢？

Like, ever?

我說的是從不刷牙

Well, it's actually a lot worse than you think.

嗯，它其實比你想像的要嚴重許多

Mouths are dirty, dark, moist places, full of breeding bacteria.

嘴巴是一個骯髒、黑暗、潮濕的地方，充滿了繁殖的細菌

In fact, one mouth can contain more bacteria than there are people on Earth!

事實是，一張嘴巴可以容納的細菌比地球上的人類還多！

When we brush our teeth, we're scrubbing away that excess bacteria,

當我們刷牙的時候，我們正洗掉過多的細菌，

and also food particles and plaque.

還有食物殘渣以及牙結石

When we don't brush, all that gross stuff just continually builds up in our mouths.

當我們不刷牙，所有噁心的東西就會持續在我們的嘴巴裡累積

Our immune systems go into overdrive to try to clear it all out but they can't.

我們的免疫系統會加倍努力去嘗試清除，然而卻做不到

And the consequences to not brushing at all could be much worse than the cavities or gingivitis

完全不刷牙的後果遠遠比蛀牙或牙齦炎來的嚴重

our dentists warn us about.

我們的牙醫警告我們

But before we get to that, let's start with the basics.

不過在我們開始之前，讓我們先從基礎談起

Plaque is a film that coats your teeth and feeds on leftover sugars in your mouth.

牙結石是一種覆蓋你牙齒的薄膜，並仰賴你嘴裡剩餘的糖為食

It produces an enamel-eating acid that gnaws away at your teeth,

它會產生一種侵蝕琺瑯質的酸嚙食你的牙齒，

leaving holes known as cavities.

留下一些稱為蛀牙的洞

Uncontrolled plaque can also cause inflammation of the gums, aka gingivitis,

不受控制的牙結石也會造成牙齦發炎，也就是齒齦炎，

discolored teeth, oral abscesses and horrible bad breath.

牙齒變色、口腔膿腫和可怕的口臭

When bacteria really starts to build up,

當細菌真正開始聚集，

you increase your risk of developing something called periodontitis,

你罹患牙周病的風險就會上升

which is the erosion of tissue, gums and bone that support your teeth.

它會侵蝕組織、牙齦以及支撐你牙齒的骨頭

The mouth just can't hold the teeth anymore so they fall out.

嘴巴再也無法撐住牙齒，所以它們會掉下來

This is the leading cause of tooth loss and if you never brushed your teeth,

這是導致牙齒脫落的主要原因，假使你從不刷牙，

you'd probably have a lot less chompers than the rest of us.

你的牙齒會比其他的人少很多

Now this may seem like your run-of-the-mill dentist schpeil but this stuff can get serious.

這聽起來好像是牙醫千篇一律的說法，不過這件事可以變得很嚴重

The bacteria in your mouth is both good and bad,

在你嘴裡有好菌及壞菌，

but things like MRSA and Staphylococcus aureus can thrive in there.

但像是耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌和金黃色葡萄狀球菌都會在裡頭成長茁壯

And if you never brush your teeth, harmful bacteria like these

而如果你從不刷牙，這些有害的細菌

can worm their way under your gums and get access to your blood.

便會慢慢地從牙齦往下鑽，並進入你的血液

Yikes.

噁心

Bad oral care has been also linked to serious diseases such as heart disease, COPD, pneumonia,

不良的口腔護理也和一些嚴重的疾病息息相關，像是心臟疾病、慢性肺部阻塞、肺炎、

and endocarditis, which is an infection of the inner lining of your heart chambers or valves.

以及心內膜炎，這是心臟腔室內壁或瓣膜的感染

So if you're leaving your mouth to fend for itself,

所以如果你讓嘴巴自己照顧自己，

you'd better watch out for these conditions.

那麼你最好留意這些情況

A few controversial studies have also claimed to have found

一些具有爭議性的研究宣稱發現

links between bad oral hygiene and things like dementia and erectile dysfunction!

不良的口腔保健和痴呆以及勃起障礙也有相關性

And remember how not brushing erodes areas of your mouth?

還記得不刷牙會讓細菌侵蝕你的嘴嗎？

Studies have shown that

研究顯示

those pockets may serve as reservoirs for HPV and cancer-causing substances.

那些地方會成為人類乳突病毒及致癌物質的藏匿之處

Thankfully now, we have modern toothbrushes and floss to protect our pearly whites,

幸運的是，我們有現代的牙刷和牙線來保護我們的牙齒，

but in ancient times, people chewed on twigs to clean their teeth,

不過在遠古時代，人們藉由咀嚼樹枝來刷牙

then scraped the surfaces with the frayed end.

接著利用磨損的末端來摩擦牙齒表面

So yeah, things have gotten a lot better.

所以，嗯哼，現在已經進步許多了

How many times a day do you brush your teeth?

你一天刷幾次牙呢？

I wanna know if any of you have been slacking.

我想知道你們有沒有偷懶

Let me know in the comment section below,

在留言區告訴我們，

or tell us: What should we talk about next?

或跟我們說下次想討論什麼主題