It’s been hammered into our heads from the day that we stepped our Velcro shoes into a classroom: Brush at least twice a day and floss at least once a day. If you didn’t heed to that advice then—and still don’t heed to it now—maybe you should start because the repercussions are pretty nasty (not to mention smelly and painful). So put down that candy bar and pick up that toothbrush, because we’ve got some dirt on dental care that will make you shudder at the thought of skipping a brushing.

Plaque

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you run your tongue over your teeth, your teeth feel as fuzzy as a teddy bear, but as soon as you brush your teeth, they feel as smooth as marble? That “fuzziness,” though it may remind you of a cuddly hug buddy, is actually a sign of plaque, and that’s a bad thing.

Plaque is the bacteria on your teeth that feeds off residue of sugar and starches that remains after you eat. If you don’t brush often, plaque builds up. Sure, you may feel like a nature lover and allow the little microbes to build a colony on your teeth. But nature might not love you because after plaque feeds off the residual food in your mouth, it produces an acid that wears off the enamel of your teeth. This acid causes cavities and tooth decay, which may lead to utter pain.

You can prevent plaque from rotting your teeth simply by getting rid of the plaque and the food particles that plaque feeds off by brushing your teeth with a fluoride toothpaste and flossing off those food bits. If you want to go the extra step, you should eat a balanced diet (with veggies because they help scrape food off your teeth and neutralize acids) but don’t snack too much in between brushings.

Gum Disease

This name does not come about from excessive chewing of gum, but from the infection of the gums that support your teeth, and not brushing your teeth properly could be a cause for it. When you have gum disease, your gums start becoming swollen, red, and bleed easily. These are the symptoms of gingivitis, a more mild gum disease. Gross, but doesn’t sound unbearable, right?

Well, if the gums do not start to improve, periodontitis can develop and lead gums to pull away from teeth as well as cause teeth loss, bad breath, and (disgustingly enough) pus secretion from the gums. Ew. Chewing tobacco, a family history of gum disease, and some medical conditions could increase risk for gum disease. But a common cause of gum disease is the build-up of plaque along the gum line that irritates the flesh and makes the gum line recede.

Luckily, if you follow those grade school (and hopefully home) lessons of saying no to tobacco, brushing twice a day, and flossing once a day, you can get ward off gum disease.

Heart Disease

Heartaches generally take precedence over toothaches, but the two are not necessarily unrelated. One potential repercussion of gum disease is heart disease. Who knew a couple of bristles put on a stick to make a toothbrush can prevent so much disease!

One study by the University of Otago Dunedin in New Zealand analyzed the teeth brushing of a group of people with a history of heart disease and found that gum disease, like many diseases, signals the body to set up defenses. However, at times, the body overestimates the threat of gum disease and starts destroying its own cells.

This self-destruction can lead to atherosclerosis which is a major cause for heart attacks. The study finds that both gum disease and atherosclerosis are associated with T cells that bind proteins in arteries and in gums. The solution? Once again, brushing twice a day and flossing at least once a day can help  keep your teeth and heart strong.

Breath Disease

Okay, so “breath disease” is not a real term. But bad breath (halitosis) is a real problem. Not only does halitosis stink literally, it stinks up your health as well. Some may think that they are just cursed with a putrid smelling mouth, but what you eat and what you do after you eat effects your breath as well.

The food you eat is absorbed into your bloodstream and travel through your lungs and out your mouth. So if you eat something really garlicky, anyone you talk to will know that’s what you ate too. Likewise, the food that gets stuck between teeth and on your tongue eventually breaks down and emits an unpleasant odor. If you never brush or floss to get rid of it, your mouth would stink up like the rotting flesh of a gutted fish on a hot day. Whoo-wee!

Other good tips to help keep your teeth nice and strong would be to use mouthwash, try an electric toothbrush, eat a diet high in dairy and vegetables and low in fat and sugar, and to avoid tobacco like the plaque (pun intended).

As it turns out, all those simple lessons about food pyramids, not smoking, brushing our teeth several times a day, and flossing at least once a day were actually good for us. If we didn’t clean our teeth, plaque would invade our mouth and our gums would swell up, causing our teeth to become loose and fall out. Our hearts might start having issues and our breaths would be so offensive that people would stand at a 10 foot radius to speak with us. We imagine we’d all be smacking our toothless, swollen gums on oatmeal all day if it weren’t for our handy-dandy toothbrushes and floss.