數(shù)十萬年來，人類從未刷過牙。如果我完全不刷牙會怎樣？

Dan Brodt
As part of my training in archaeology and human osteology, I've looked at a lot of skulls, some thousands of years old. This is why I've always said that if I ever went back in time, one of the things I'd take with me is a good toothbrush.

作為考古學(xué)和人類骨骼學(xué)培訓(xùn)的一部分，我觀察了很多頭骨，其中一些有數(shù)千年的歷史。這就是為什么我一直說，如果我能回到過去，我會帶上一把好牙刷。

If you were a prehistoric native American, you wouldn't have to worry much about it, though. The grit from stone grinding their corn generally wore their teeth down faster than cavities could form. (By the way, extreme dental wear is a quick and pretty accurate check used by anthropologists to determine whether a New World skeleton is prehistoric or not. After the introduction of metal-ground corn, no more stone grit, and no more dental wear).

如果你是一個史前的美洲原住民，你就不必太擔(dān)心這個問題。用石頭磨玉米產(chǎn)生的砂粒通常會使他們的牙齒磨損得比蛀牙形成得更快。（順便說一下，極端的牙齒磨損是人類學(xué)家用來判斷新世界骨架是史前還是非史前的一種快速且相當(dāng)準(zhǔn)確的檢查方法。在引入金屬磨玉米后，不再有石頭砂粒，也就不再有牙齒磨損了）。

Also, it wasn't unusual to see edentulous (toothless) individuals in their thirties and forties. One professor told me that old women would often eat bone-crushed mice for protein.

此外，在三四十歲的人群中看到無牙（沒有牙齒）的人并不罕見。一位教授告訴我，老年婦女經(jīng)常吃磨碎的老鼠來獲取蛋白質(zhì)。

So what happened to our ancestors’ mouths? If they ate a lot of carbohydrates, like corn, they suffered from either cavities, gingivitis, or both. The dentition of prehistoric hunter gatherers studied by anthropologists had anywhere from 1.5% to fewer than 8% cavities. Once agriculture began, all bets were off, and and the caries (cavities) rate was from about 25% to 87%.

那么我們的祖先的牙齒發(fā)生了什么變化呢？如果他們攝入了大量的碳水化合物，比如玉米，他們就會遭受蛀牙、牙齦炎或兩者兼有的困擾。人類學(xué)家研究的史前狩獵采集者的牙齒蛀牙率在1.5%到不到8%之間。一旦農(nóng)業(yè)開始，情況就完全不同了，蛀牙率大約在25%到87%之間。

I remember looking at a mandible of a 14 - 16 year old male from a 4,000 year old agricultural population. He had an unhealed pea-sized hole below the tooth line. This was from an abscess that he probably died from.

我記得觀察過一個來自4000年前農(nóng)業(yè)人口的14至16歲男性的下頜骨。他的牙線下有一個未愈合的豌豆大小的洞。這可能是他死于膿腫的原因。

Think about it. Infection bore a hole through his mandible until the pus spurted out. And he died. Think of the pain and fever he must have gone through while his illness ran its course.

想想看。感染在他的下頜骨上穿了一個洞，直到膿液噴涌而出。然后他死了。想想在他病情發(fā)展的過程中，他一定經(jīng)歷了多大的痛苦和發(fā)燒。

Yep, I love my dentist.

是的，我愛我的牙醫(yī)。

Anonymous
For 8 years I didn't brush my teeth out of laziness. I drank carbonated drinks and ate candy like usually (which, as my weight would suggest, was too much). I have at present had three teeth pulled and at least three gaping holes in existing teeth. Beside the holes I also have calcified plague on my teeth which is where bacteria wants to live.

由于懶惰，我8年沒有刷牙。我像往常一樣喝碳酸飲料和吃糖果（從我的體重來看，這顯然是太多了）。目前，我已經(jīng)拔掉了三顆牙齒，并且現(xiàn)有牙齒上至少有三個大洞。除了這些洞，我的牙齒上還有鈣化的牙菌斑，這是細(xì)菌喜歡滋生的地方。

The holes don't always hurt. Not always. But the pain they bring (when bacteria gnaw in the nerve) is excruciating.

牙洞并不總是會疼。并非總是如此。但它們帶來的疼痛（當(dāng)細(xì)菌侵蝕神經(jīng)時）是極其劇烈的。

Many animals don't have the same access to sugar and acid as we do. Sugar and acid (carbonated water, juice) really takes a toll on your teeth.

許多動物無法像我們一樣獲取糖和酸性物質(zhì)。糖和酸性物質(zhì)（如碳酸水、果汁）對牙齒的損害很大。

Brush your teeth. I do now twice a day, but it's too late to save them all.

刷牙。我現(xiàn)在每天刷兩次，但已經(jīng)太晚了，無法挽救所有的牙齒。

Amy Chai
They prior generations of humans had bad teeth. Having healthy teeth is a rather modern phenomenon. But not to worry, in times past, you were likely yo be dead at a young age anyway.

早期的人類牙齒狀況不佳。擁有健康的牙齒是一個相對現(xiàn)代的現(xiàn)象。但不用擔(dān)心，在過去，你可能在年輕時就已經(jīng)去世了。

But often older societies chewed on sticks or did clean the teeth. They just did not have modern dental products.

但通常較古老的社會會咀嚼木棍或清潔牙齒。他們只是沒有現(xiàn)代的牙科產(chǎn)品。

I find it super offensive the way people mock those who suffer with bad teeth. Don’t they know that the ability to afford dental care is a huge privilege?

我覺得人們嘲笑那些牙齒不好的人的方式非常冒犯。他們難道不知道能夠負(fù)擔(dān)得起牙科護理是一種巨大的特權(quán)嗎？

The ability to afford toothpaste is another issue. I had to use baking soda on my toothbrush much of the time, because “crest” versus “food” was a real issue for us.

買得起牙膏是另一個問題。很多時候我不得不在牙刷上用小蘇打，因為對于我們來說，“牙膏”和“食物”之間是一個真正的選擇問題。

Avoiding sugary foods is important to minimize dental problems, too!

避免含糖食物對于減少牙齒問題也很重要！

So keep brushing your teeth and don’t eat too much sugar or your teeth will go bad.

所以繼續(xù)刷牙，不要吃太多糖，否則你的牙齒會變壞。

Staffan Sandstr?m
You initial premise is incorrect. People may not have had toothbrushes, but they did clean their teeth in various ways. For instance using straw, or polishing it with salt, or use a cloth or use a root that you chewed on to create a sort of brush.

你的初始前提是錯誤的。人們可能沒有牙刷，但他們用各種方式清潔牙齒。例如使用稻草，或用鹽拋光，或用布，或咀嚼一種根部來制造一種類似刷子的工具。

Another thing you appear to miss is that refined sugar is a relatively new invention. Before industrialisation you got you sugar from honey as well as fruits and berries, but the amount was far less than for modern man. Their diet also contained more fibre that helped keep the teeth clean.

你似乎忽略的另一件事是，精制糖是一個相對較新的發(fā)明。在工業(yè)化之前，人們從蜂蜜以及水果和漿果中獲取糖分，但數(shù)量遠(yuǎn)少于現(xiàn)代人。他們的飲食中也含有更多的纖維，有助于保持牙齒清潔。

Jorge Lopez
For 100s of 1000s of year humans didn't brush their teeth. But they also didn't eat what we eat today. People ate nuts, fruits, leaves, barks, meat and fish. They never ate sugar, drank Coke or Pepsi. And they constantly chewed on some twigs or bark which naturally cleaned their teeth. Also people didn't live 70 or 80 years. So for the time they lived their teeth was good enough.

千百年來，人類并不刷牙。但他們也不吃我們今天吃的食物。人們吃堅果、水果、樹葉、樹皮、肉和魚。他們從不吃糖，也不喝可樂或百事可樂。而且他們經(jīng)常咀嚼一些樹枝或樹皮，這些自然清潔了他們的牙齒。此外，人們并不活到70或80歲。所以在他們生活的那個時期，他們的牙齒已經(jīng)足夠好了。

Today's food is high in sugar.

今天的食物含糖量很高。

David A Rosania
The existing replies answer why animals (sometimes) get away without oral hygiene: they die. However, many moderately long-lived animals succumb to decay and especially periodontal disease, which can be fatal in the wild.

現(xiàn)有的回答解釋了為什么動物（有時）沒有口腔衛(wèi)生也能生存：它們會死亡。然而，許多壽命中等的動物會因蛀牙，尤其是牙周病而死亡，這在野外可能是致命的。

But asking at what point your mouth starts to take care of itself is like asking at what point your body will start to take care of itself if you stop eating. Good luck with that.

但詢問你的嘴巴什么時候開始自我照顧，就像詢問如果你停止進食，你的身體什么時候會開始自我照顧一樣。祝你好運。

Discontinuing oral hygiene will dramatically raise your risk for decay and periodontal disease. When and how badly these will develop will be determined by your genes, your diet, your overall medical health, whether you smoke, your oral bacterial composition, and your current and past history of fluoride intake. For the average person I'd give you 1-5 years before you regret your decision. And about a week until your breath smells like a disposall.

停止口腔衛(wèi)生會顯著增加你患齲齒和牙周病的風(fēng)險。這些疾病何時發(fā)生以及嚴(yán)重程度將取決于你的基因、飲食、整體健康狀況、是否吸煙、口腔細(xì)菌組成以及你當(dāng)前和過去的氟攝入歷史。對于普通人來說，我估計你在1到5年內(nèi)會后悔這個決定。大約一周后，你的口氣就會像垃圾處理器一樣難聞。

Jan Gilbert
Where a little erroneous knowledge can lead one's beliefs is astonishing - especially about a subject most people know very little. Dentistry is one of the more blindly bought items in the world; perhaps more so than diamonds.

一點點錯誤的知識就能引導(dǎo)一個人的信念，這令人驚訝——尤其是在大多數(shù)人知之甚少的主題上。牙科是世界上較為盲目購買的物品之一；或許比鉆石更甚。

How tragic since teeth as so much more important o one's life and health.

多么悲劇啊，因為牙齒對一個人的生活和健康來說如此重要。

There is so much to say so I'll try to encapsulate it. Rest assured that all I say is 100% accurate.

有太多要說的，所以我盡量概括一下。請放心，我所說的一切都是百分之百準(zhǔn)確的。

So, the dentist is involved with nutrition all day long, every day of his professional life and rarely does one ever hear the word nutrition in the dental office. That's because the dentist is fully powered by the 20% of his education that dealt with fixing teeth; the technician aspect, the fix-it aspect. The other 80% is what separates the doctor from the technician. That 80% contains the secrets of the human body, why it gets sick and how it stays well. Unfortunately, that 80% is shelved and forgotten once the shingle is hung and practice begins. The entire dental profession is built solely on the 20% making it a mostly underserving, narrow-scoped profession. You may be paying doctor's fees but only getting technician treatment.

所以，牙醫(yī)在他的職業(yè)生涯中每天都與營養(yǎng)打交道，但在牙科診所里卻很少聽到“營養(yǎng)”這個詞。這是因為牙醫(yī)完全依賴于他教育中20%的內(nèi)容，即修復(fù)牙齒的技術(shù)方面，而忽略了另外80%的內(nèi)容。這80%的內(nèi)容是區(qū)分醫(yī)生與技術(shù)員的關(guān)鍵，它包含了人體的奧秘、為什么會生病以及如何保持健康。不幸的是，一旦掛牌開業(yè)，這80%的內(nèi)容就被擱置和遺忘了。整個牙科行業(yè)僅建立在20%的基礎(chǔ)上，使其成為一個服務(wù)不足、視野狹窄的職業(yè)。你可能支付了醫(yī)生的費用，但得到的卻是技術(shù)員的治療。

And before I forget, the fact that you think losing your molars was a blessing shows how very wrongminded you are. They are the foundation of good health. The anterior teeth are made for esthetics, incising things and supporting your lips and cheeks.

在我忘記之前，你認(rèn)為失去臼齒是件好事，這表明你的想法是多么錯誤。它們是健康的基礎(chǔ)。前牙是為了美觀、切割食物以及支撐嘴唇和臉頰而存在的。

Without molars, chewing capacity is drastically reduced so you cannot chew your food as well and so swallow larger, undigested pieces than you should, placing a greater stress and strain on your digestive system.

沒有臼齒，咀嚼能力會大幅下降，因此你無法很好地咀嚼食物，從而吞下比應(yīng)該更大的未消化食物塊，這會給你的消化系統(tǒng)帶來更大的壓力和負(fù)擔(dān)。

Without molars, your TMJ (temporomandibular joint - one on each side in front of your ears and more complicated than a knee and, to make it more complicated, both are attached by way of the mandible, or lower jaw bone), your entire body is thrown off balance and symptoms related to TMJ dysfunction are varied and widespread and often quite painful and debilitating. That you lost them is certainly not a blessing.

如果沒有臼齒，你的顳下頜關(guān)節(jié)（位于每只耳朵前方，比膝蓋更復(fù)雜，而且更復(fù)雜的是，兩者都通過下頜骨或下顎骨連接），你的整個身體都會失去平衡，與顳下頜關(guān)節(jié)功能障礙相關(guān)的癥狀多種多樣且廣泛，通常非常痛苦且使人衰弱。失去它們絕對不是一件幸事。

That women still find you attractive is likely debatable and/or demonstrates the level of the bar women nowadays use to sext from men. With the infections in your mouth, you either have blatant halitosis or bad breath with a hint of mint (if you have fallen for the mouthrinse advertisements). Soon, the rest of your body will suffer. As they say: Being old can be tough but being old without teeth is a nightmare.

女性仍然覺得你有吸引力這一點可能是有爭議的，或者這表明了當(dāng)今女性在選擇男性時所使用的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。由于你口腔中的感染，你要么有明顯的口臭，要么是帶有薄荷味的口氣（如果你已經(jīng)中了漱口水的廣告的招）。很快，你身體的其他部分也會受到影響。正如人們所說：變老可能很艱難，但沒有牙齒的老年生活是一場噩夢。

Caries and periodontal disease are separate diseases. Most often, we find patients present with a lot of one or the other; infrequently with a lot of both. The patient who has a lot of both is definitely not a well person. Body systems are wildly malfunctioning to allow such destruction. When you see the hardest structure in the body (tooth enamel) turn into a soft, smelly, decayed mass, you have to realize that something is terribly wrong.

齲齒和牙周病是兩種不同的疾病。大多數(shù)情況下，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)患者會表現(xiàn)出其中一種疾病的嚴(yán)重癥狀；而很少同時表現(xiàn)出兩種疾病的嚴(yán)重癥狀。同時患有這兩種嚴(yán)重疾病的患者顯然健康狀況不佳。身體系統(tǒng)嚴(yán)重失調(diào)才會導(dǎo)致如此嚴(yán)重的破壞。當(dāng)你看到人體中最堅硬的結(jié)構(gòu)（牙釉質(zhì)）變成柔軟、發(fā)臭、腐爛的物質(zhì)時，你必須意識到某些地方出現(xiàn)了嚴(yán)重問題。

If you woke up with a hole in your leg, you'd be alarmed. A hole in your tooth should sound the same alarm bells. Unfortunately, dentists are deaf to the alarms and see no more than a hole in a tooth that has to be filled. That response is the response of a technician. The response of a doctor is to realize the glaring signal such destruction is highlighting. The dentist who does not respond at the doctor level is guilty - very guilty.

如果你醒來發(fā)現(xiàn)腿上有個洞，你會感到驚慌。牙齒上的洞也應(yīng)該引起同樣的警覺。不幸的是，牙醫(yī)對這些警報充耳不聞，只看到一個需要填補的牙洞。這種反應(yīng)是技術(shù)員的反應(yīng)。醫(yī)生的反應(yīng)是意識到這種破壞所凸顯的明顯信號。沒有以醫(yī)生水平做出反應(yīng)的牙醫(yī)是有罪的——非常嚴(yán)重的罪。

Periodontal disease is the destruction of the supporting structures of the teeth (bone and gums). It takes a long time for such destruction to become entrenched and serious but usually begins as a teenager. By the time one is 35 years old, it has been in your mouth steadily getting worse for 20 years; and your dentist never told you much except to brush your teeth. Obviously, he never gave you sufficient instruction because you have to have you teeth repeatedly cleaned. There is a way to easily keep your teeth clean ALL THE TIME so when you get up in the morning and rub your tongue over your teeth, they feel smooth, clean and shiny (though you can't really feel 'shiny').

牙周病是牙齒支持結(jié)構(gòu)（骨骼和牙齦）的破壞。這種破壞需要很長時間才能變得根深蒂固和嚴(yán)重，但通常從青少年時期開始。到了35歲時，它已經(jīng)在你的口腔中持續(xù)惡化20年；而你的牙醫(yī)除了讓你刷牙外，從未告訴你太多。顯然，他從未給予你足夠的指導(dǎo)，因為你不得不反復(fù)清潔牙齒。有一種方法可以輕松地讓你的牙齒始終保持清潔，這樣當(dāng)你早上起床并用舌頭摩擦牙齒時，它們會感覺光滑、干凈且有光澤（盡管你無法真正感覺到“光澤”）。

Implants are not the best answer because they will be attacked as were your natural teeth and will also take some time before they fail. Of course, that time lag will allow you to forget that the dentist never told you how to prevent the destruction and you'll never connect implant failure with lack of proper care.

種植牙并不是最佳選擇，因為它們會像你的天然牙齒一樣受到攻擊，并且也會在一段時間后失效。當(dāng)然，這段時間的延遲會讓你忘記牙醫(yī)從未告訴過你如何預(yù)防破壞，你也不會將種植牙的失敗與缺乏適當(dāng)護理聯(lián)系起來。

In general, people exchange periodontitis for periimplantitis (a professional, inside secret no one wants to discuss).

一般來說，人們用牙周炎換取種植體周圍炎（這是一個專業(yè)人士內(nèi)部不愿討論的秘密）。

University students were studied and those who stopped brushing their teeth had gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) within 10 days.

對大學(xué)生進行了研究，那些停止刷牙的人在10天內(nèi)患上了牙齦炎（牙齦發(fā)炎）。

There is tons more to be told but not here.

還有更多要說的，但不在這里。

Samuel Weisz
Stopping your brushing habit may not lead you to eventual tooth loss. Believe it or not the patients in my office that have the least amount of cavities are not always the ones who have the best brushing habits. Most people don't realize that the modern diet filled with sugars and complex carbohydrates are the main cause of tooth loss. This by no means is a good reason to stop your habit of brushing and flossing. I will explain further.

停止刷牙的習(xí)慣可能不會導(dǎo)致你最終失去牙齒。信不信由你，我診所里蛀牙最少的患者并不總是那些刷牙習(xí)慣最好的人。大多數(shù)人沒有意識到，現(xiàn)代飲食中充滿糖和復(fù)雜碳水化合物是導(dǎo)致牙齒脫落的主要原因。這絕不是停止刷牙和使用牙線的好理由。我會進一步解釋。

I think the real question being asked is are you golong lose all your teeth if you stop brushing. Unfortunately Based on clinical research the short answer is probably. There are two ways you could potentially lose your teeth. Most laypeople are most focused on cavities but the truth is gum disease or periodontal disease causes the majority of tooth loss. The cause for both gum disease and cavities are varying groups of bacteria. if one were to stop brushing all together they would be leaving a large accumulation of cavity causing and gum disease causing bacteria in their mouth. Over time these bacteria would change the pH of the mouth creating a more acidic environment where more and more of these types of teeth harming bacteria would continue to flourish. Now most peoples teeth would be ripe for massive amounts of dental decay thus causing to loss. There are many populations that are much more resistant to the types of bacteria that cause cavities. Often times these are the exact populations that are very prone to gum disease through a different strain of bacteria. So in short if you stop brushing your teeth they would most likely succumb to gum disease or rot from the outside in from cavities.

我認(rèn)為真正的問題是，如果你停止刷牙，你是否會失去所有的牙齒。不幸的是，根據(jù)臨床研究，簡短的回答可能是的。有兩種方式可能會導(dǎo)致你失去牙齒。大多數(shù)外行人最關(guān)注的是蛀牙，但事實是牙齦疾病或牙周病是導(dǎo)致牙齒脫落的主要原因。牙齦疾病和蛀牙的原因是不同的細(xì)菌群。如果一個人完全停止刷牙，他們的口腔中會積累大量導(dǎo)致蛀牙和牙齦疾病的細(xì)菌。隨著時間的推移，這些細(xì)菌會改變口腔的pH值，創(chuàng)造一個更酸性的環(huán)境，在這種環(huán)境中，越來越多這種損害牙齒的細(xì)菌會繼續(xù)繁殖?，F(xiàn)在，大多數(shù)人的牙齒將面臨大量蛀牙的風(fēng)險，從而導(dǎo)致牙齒脫落。有許多人群對導(dǎo)致蛀牙的細(xì)菌更具抵抗力。通常，這些人群恰恰更容易通過另一種細(xì)菌株患上牙齦疾病。簡而言之，如果你停止刷牙，你的牙齒很可能會因為牙齦疾病或蛀牙而從外向內(nèi)腐爛。

If you were going to attempt of this experiment I would recommend eating a diet very low in sugars and complex carbohydrates and more importantly a diet very high and fermented foods the natural probiotics that will help keep a higher more basic pH in your mouth. Thus outcompeting the acid loving cavity causing bacteria. You may be able to breed just the right environment in your Petrie dish we call the mouth to stave off loss of teeth. But scrubbing twice daily will certainly be very helpful in the process.

如果你打算嘗試這個實驗，我建議你采用非常低糖和低復(fù)合碳水化合物的飲食，更重要的是，采用非常高發(fā)酵食品的飲食，這些天然益生菌有助于保持口腔中較高的堿性pH值。從而勝過那些喜歡酸性環(huán)境、導(dǎo)致蛀牙的細(xì)菌。你可能能夠在被稱為口腔的培養(yǎng)皿中培育出恰到好處的環(huán)境，以延緩牙齒的脫落。但每天刷兩次牙在這個過程中肯定會非常有幫助。

Mr. Testtubehead
Brushing stimulates saliva production. Saliva is essential for cleaning your mouth and it has antimicrobial properties. You can brush with nothing and your mouth will still get full of saliva and it will clean your teeth.

刷牙可以刺激唾液分泌。唾液對于清潔口腔至關(guān)重要，并且具有抗菌特性。即使不使用牙膏刷牙，口腔中仍然會充滿唾液，它能夠清潔牙齒。

Early in human development the diet had no sugars in it that didn't come at a natural level. Apples and grapes and other fruit we have bread until they are producing sugar at far higher rates in many cases than the original.

在人類發(fā)展的早期，飲食中的糖分僅來自天然水平。蘋果、葡萄和其他水果經(jīng)過培育后，在許多情況下其糖分產(chǎn)量遠(yuǎn)高于原始品種。

Eating soft food that is both acidic like soda pop and high sugar like Twinkies is a guarantee to fill your mouth with teeth damaging substances. Early diets required much more mastication which would stimulate more saliva production

食用像汽水這樣酸性且像Twinkies這樣高糖的軟食，必定會讓你的口腔充滿損害牙齒的物質(zhì)。早期的飲食需要更多的咀嚼，這會刺激更多的唾液分泌。

Also, all civilizations we have ever seen clean their teeth. Just not with toothpaste and toothbrush. They use sharp and sticks and Emery boards to polish and take great care in their dental hygiene for the most part. If we find tools dating hundreds of thousands of years old, up to a few million you can bet your bottom dollar humans were cleaning their teeth

此外，我們所見過的所有文明都有清潔牙齒的習(xí)慣。只是他們不使用牙膏和牙刷。他們使用尖銳的棍子和砂紙來打磨牙齒，并且大部分都非常注重牙齒衛(wèi)生。如果我們發(fā)現(xiàn)幾十萬年前甚至幾百萬年前的工具，你可以肯定人類當(dāng)時就在清潔牙齒。

Also remember that a set of teeth didn't have to last 80 years back then. Even today the average lifespan of the Afghan male is 45.

還要記住，那時候一套牙齒不需要用80年。即使在今天，阿富汗男性的平均壽命也只有45歲。

You become toothless. Even with brushing some people will just become toothless. It's going to depend on whether you run a slightly acid mouse or slightly basic mouth. I'm 59 years old and I have no cavities and while I brush my teeth I've never been a good flosser. But my mouth is slightly basic which stops a lot of tooth decay, but instead I do get gum problems. A dentist told me this once.

你會變得沒有牙齒。即使刷牙，有些人也還是會變得沒有牙齒。這取決于你的口腔是稍微酸性還是稍微堿性。我59歲了，沒有蛀牙，雖然我刷牙，但我從來不是一個好的牙線使用者。但我的口腔是稍微堿性的，這阻止了很多蛀牙，但我確實有牙齦問題。一位牙醫(yī)曾經(jīng)告訴我這一點。

My sisters all had multiple cavities and teeth removed. They were heavy smokers and the last of my oldest was an invalid from epilepsy and had massive tooth problems because of the drugs and inability to brush so she had to have all her teeth surgically extracted

我的姐妹們都有多個蛀牙并且拔了牙。她們都是重度吸煙者，而我最大的姐姐因為癲癇而殘疾，由于藥物和無法刷牙，她出現(xiàn)了嚴(yán)重的牙齒問題，因此不得不通過手術(shù)拔掉所有牙齒。

There is no human society that didn't brush their teeth in some way. But the toothbrush itself wasn't necessarily the implement. Twigs and sticks and things that are like Emery boards for teeth are common. This is the hilarious part of the CIA trying to assassinate an African dictator once in the 1960s they put poisoned toothpaste in his bathroom, despite the fact that Africans didn't use toothbrush and toothpaste they use these cleaning sticks.

沒有任何人類社會不以某種方式刷牙。但牙刷本身并不一定是工具。樹枝、木棍以及類似指甲銼的東西很常見。這是中情局在20世紀(jì)60年代試圖暗殺一位非洲獨裁者時的搞笑部分，他們在他的浴室里放了有毒的牙膏，盡管非洲人并不使用牙刷和牙膏，而是使用這些清潔棒。

One of the reasons toothpaste works is it stimulates saliva into your mouth. And saliva is great in cleaning your mouth and getting rid of dental bacteria. This is why sugar-free gum is recommended for people with gum disease or other mouth problems because the sugar Xylitol they use stimulate saliva Galore, but is inedible to the bacteria in your mouth. I suffer from dry mouth and use a CPAP machine. You can get Xylitol tablets that you push between your cheek and gum and they sit there as a sugar pill and stimulate saliva. So now I wake up in the morning with a cup full of mucus in my mouth. Breath smells fresh though!

牙膏之所以有效，其中一個原因是它能刺激口腔分泌唾液。唾液在清潔口腔和去除牙菌方面非常有效。這就是為什么建議患有牙齦疾病或其他口腔問題的人使用無糖口香糖，因為它們使用的木糖醇能大量刺激唾液分泌，但對口腔中的細(xì)菌卻不可食用。我患有口干癥并使用CPAP機器。你可以獲得木糖醇片，將其推入臉頰和牙齦之間，它們就像糖丸一樣停留在那里并刺激唾液分泌。所以現(xiàn)在我早上醒來時，嘴里會有一口黏液。不過，口氣聞起來很清新！

Modern food does not stimulate mastication as much and so the saliva production suffers. Imagine eating a Twinkie and drinking a Coca-Cola and then not brushing your teeth. You've packed the spaces in your mouth with a sugary sponge and dust it and highly sugar and acidic juice so I can sit in contact with your teeth and gum margins all day.

現(xiàn)代食物對咀嚼的刺激較少，因此唾液分泌受到影響。想象一下，吃一個Twinkie蛋糕并喝一杯可口可樂，然后不刷牙。你會在口腔中塞滿含糖的海綿，并撒上高糖和酸性果汁，這樣它們可以整天與你的牙齒和牙齦邊緣接觸。

Contrast this to a Caribbean boy chewing on a chunk of sugarcane. Lots of mastication so the sugar becomes less of a problem.

這與一個加勒比男孩嚼著一塊甘蔗形成對比。需要大量咀嚼，因此糖分的問題就不那么嚴(yán)重了。

Ultimately though people a few thousand years ago didn't need to worry as much about their teeth falling out because the only live to 40 anyway. You have to make him last almost twice as long. And there's lots of evidence if you don't, you're not going to reach 80 as well

不過，幾千年前的人們并不需要太擔(dān)心牙齒脫落的問題，因為他們通常只能活到40歲左右。而現(xiàn)在，你必須讓牙齒的壽命幾乎延長一倍。而且有大量證據(jù)表明，如果你不這么做，你也無法活到80歲。

J Aho
First, hundreds of thousands of years ago, humans ate primarily meat (often raw) and a few foraged berries and starchy plant stems and roots. Meat is very low in carbohydrates, which are the primary nutrients for oral bacteria that can lead to dental carries, gum disease, tooth loss, and halitosis. The tough, uncooked meat also acted as a mechanical plaque, tartar, and bacteria remover as it was chewed. As well, the average lifespan of very ancient humans was on the order of 25 years or so, which meant that the lack of formal dental hygiene often did not have the time to manifest itself in terms of major dexerious effects.

首先，數(shù)十萬年前，人類主要食用肉類（通常是生的）和一些采集的漿果及淀粉質(zhì)植物莖和根。肉類的碳水化合物含量非常低，而碳水化合物是導(dǎo)致齲齒、牙齦疾病、牙齒脫落和口臭的口腔細(xì)菌的主要營養(yǎng)來源。堅韌的生肉在咀嚼時也起到了機械去除牙菌斑、牙垢和細(xì)菌的作用。此外，非常古老的人類的平均壽命大約在25歲左右，這意味著缺乏正式的牙齒衛(wèi)生通常沒有時間表現(xiàn)為重大的有害影響。

In early historic times, up until the Renaissance, while toothbrushes had not been invented, people did clean their teeth in various ways. Chewing on wood, bamboo, or other fibrous plant material was common. Also, mixtures of spices, vinegar, saltpeter, and other mildly granular, hard substances were used to remove tartar and unpleasant odor. Some people used cloth scraps or a bit of vinegar-soaked sponge to rub particles of food from their teeth. Finally, wood or bone splinters were used as toothpicks, and mouth-rinses of water or vinegar were common.

在早期的歷史時期，直到文藝復(fù)興時期，雖然牙刷尚未發(fā)明，但人們確實以各種方式清潔牙齒。咀嚼木頭、竹子或其他纖維植物材料是常見的做法。此外，人們還使用香料、醋、硝石和其他輕微顆粒狀、堅硬的物質(zhì)混合物來去除牙垢和異味。有些人使用布片或一點浸泡過醋的海綿來擦拭牙齒上的食物殘渣。最后，木頭或骨頭碎片被用作牙簽，而用水或醋漱口也很常見。

The consequences of not regularly brushing teeth every day range from bad breath, tooth scum build up, and sensitive gums to dental carries, tooth loss and breakage, severe gum receding and gum disease, root and pulp abcesses, all the way up to heart-valve vegetative damage and an increased chance of head and neck cancers.

不每天定期刷牙的后果包括口臭、牙垢堆積、牙齦敏感，到齲齒、牙齒脫落和斷裂、嚴(yán)重的牙齦退縮和牙齦疾病、牙根和牙髓膿腫，甚至可能導(dǎo)致心臟瓣膜病變以及增加頭頸部癌癥的風(fēng)險。