Americans care about oral health, but miss connection to whole body health
Washington, D.C., June 16, 2026 – A national survey conducted by Ipsos in partnership with P&G's Crest and Oral-B brands and supported by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) found that a large majority of Americans say they are motivated to take care of their oral health, but when polled only a small percentage of Americans associate oral health with whole-body health. The findings highlight that many Americans have never heard of the connection between oral health and cardiovascular health, diabetes, respiratory disease, pregnancy complications, and Alzheimer's disease, and only a few respondents ranked oral health among their top three health behaviors, far behind exercise and healthy eating.
Oral care is often the first healthy habit to slip with more than half of Americans saying holidays or big events have led them to skip or scale back oral care, including skipping brushing at least once a day. Some of the biggest disruptors to oral care routines are: tiredness, being sick, routine changes, being busy, and stress.
About the Study
This P&G survey was conducted by Ipsos from April 3rd to April 14th, 2026, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 2,052 adults, age 18 or older. For each question, percentages shown are based on the respondents who expressed an opinion. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.21 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The study was conducted in English. The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Mallory Newall
Senior Vice President, US
US Public Affairs
[email protected]
McKenzie Krause
Senior Research Manager, US
US Public Affairs
[email protected]
Shea Fili
Senior Research Manager, US
US Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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