Sure, you may have been stumped one time trying to figure out Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon at a party, but don't worry dental friends, the famous actor-musician has your back even if you can't link him and Charlie Chaplin together somehow.
On a recent episode of "The School of Greatness" podcast, host Lewis Howes interviewed Bacon on a number of topics, ranging from the famous board game mentioned above to the secrets of success with his marriage of 35 years. The podcast episode lasts just over an hour, and if you're a fan of Bacon's acting or music, it's a must listen.
At the end of the episode, Howes asked Bacon to answer a hypothetical scenario in which all of Bacon's music and movies had gone away and he simply had three pieces of advice (three truths, as Howes calls them) that he wanted to leave with the world and be remembered for rather than anything to do with Hollywood. That's where Bacon's thoughts turned to his oral hygiene.
"Take care of each other. Take care of the planet. And floss," is how Bacon answered during the question that begins in earnest at the 64:05 mark of the show.
The flossing answer, of course, is one that Howes wanted to dive deeper into, mentioning that Bacon was just the second person in more than 1,000 shows to share the value of flossing as one of his three truths, joining a medical doctor with a name that Howes couldn't remember when pressed by Bacon.
So why did Bacon say flossing?
"They just say that it's very important for the health," Bacon explained. "I guess it's actually just kind of a metaphor for taking care of your own self."
Howes then mentions that he wishes he would have started flossing much earlier, waiting until his 20s to add that to his oral hygiene routine. He also tells Bacon, "Now I do it religiously, and I feel the difference, so I think that's smart."
So, sure, while it's awesome that Bacon understands the value of flossing, it's also clear that, somewhere along the way, he heard the message of the importance of oral hygiene in relation to overall health. With that in mind, the next time you're frustrated with patients who don't seem to understand the importance of the oral-systemic link, just remember that there are people listening out there, like Kevin Bacon.
