If you aren’t brushing your teeth regularly, then you may be at a greater risk of contracting pneumonia.

A study presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s annual meeting in Boston claims that changes in oral bacteria can have a significant effect on contracting pneumonia. According to Samit Joshi, an infectious disease researcher at Yale University, poor oral hygiene is one of the most common risk factors for pneumonia, with the risk doubling for people who have severe gum disease.

While the study was not designed to demonstrate the direct relationship between pneumonia and these bacteria, Joshi told the Global Medical Network News that he hopes his experiment will be replicated by larger independent studies to determine a causal link.

The British Dental Health Foundation, an oral health charity, issued this statement saying that poor oral hygiene may lead to the development of pneumonia.

“During the winter months we’re all susceptible to colds, coughs and chesty viruses due to the drop in temperature,” Nigel Carter, the foundation’s chief executive, said in an interview in The Telegraph. “What people must remember, particularly those highlighted as vulnerable, is that prevention can be very basic.”

Carter also said that the links between Pneumonia and oral hygiene have been well documented and that good hygiene can help stave off pneumonia. And pneumonia isn’t the only disease linked to poor oral hygiene. Professor Sheldon Campbell, a microbiology professor at Yale, said the following about the importance of oral hygiene in relation to infectious diseases:

“Most of the bacterial organisms that cause infections are neighbors of the oral floor,” he said. “There are too many variables to accurately say, but it’s likely that oral microbodies probably impact the development of certain diseases.”

In the US alone about 3 million people are afflicted by pneumonia each year.