If you’re like most people, you feel a lot better after getting a good night’s sleep. But for some people, staying up late and getting up early is just a way of life. Unfortunately, according to a new study from Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, sleeping less than five hours (or more than nine hours) could be detrimental to your health.

The study, which was led by Professor Shim Hye-young, found that patients who slept less than five hours each night weren’t just at a high risk of being tired during the day - they also increased their risk of developing the painful joint condition temporomandibular joint disorder (or TMJ disorder for short).

With estimates of nearly 50 percent of Americans suffering from some level of periodontal disease, dentists are ringing the alarm that periodontal disease (also known as periodontitis) could be a silent killer if not treated properly. Periodontitis has already been found to contribute to everything from heart attack, stroke and cancer to high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

Now, in a stunning new report, researchers at the National Center for Biotechnology have found further connections between periodontal disease and the chronic, neurodegenerative disease multiple sclerosis.

With a staggering 75 million Americans estimated to have high blood pressure, a new study in the publication Hypertension is calling on doctors and dentists to pay close attention to patients with high blood pressure and periodontitis. The study found that of 3,600 patients with high blood pressure, those who had healthier gums also had lower blood pressure numbers than their counterparts with periodontal disease.