Welcome to Life Noggin.

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

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

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

but what would happen if you never brushed your teeth?

Like, ever?

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

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

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

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

and also food particles and plaque.

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

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

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

our dentists warn us about.

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

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

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

leaving holes known as cavities.

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

discolored teeth, oral abscesses and horrible bad breath.

When bacteria really starts to build up,

you increase your risk of developing something called periodontitis,

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

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

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

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

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

The bacteria in your mouth is both good and bad,

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

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

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

Yikes.

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

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

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

you'd better watch out for these conditions.

A few controversial studies have also claimed to have found

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

And remember how not brushing erodes areas of your mouth?

Studies have shown that

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

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

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

then scraped the surfaces with the frayed end.

So yeah, things have gotten a lot better.

How many times a day do you brush your teeth?

I wanna know if any of you have been slacking.

Let me know in the comment section below,

or tell us: What should we talk about next?