Brushing your teeth could prevent arthritis, experts say

Brushing your teeth could prevent arthritis, new research suggests.

Bugs known to cause gum infections also trigger the crippling condition that blights the lives of many around the world.

Experts say the findings add to the evidence that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is linked to dental hygiene, a long-suspected theory.

An infection with A. actinomycetemcomitans - known to cause gum disease - sparks the production of proteins that cause the immune system to falter.

Citrullination - which regulates the production of proteins - is known to happen naturally in humans.

But in people with RA, the process becomes overactive and leads to inflammation and damaged tissue, researchers from Johns Hopkins University found.

However, in the new findings, they discovered this was also apparent in samples of patients with gum disease.

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