A recent study showed that people who address problems quickly and directly are significantly less likely to have gum disease than are people who react to problems by refusing to think about them. Since stress can have a negative effect on the immune system, the study' s results clearly indicate that some forms of gum disease are caused or aggravated by suppression of the immune system. The argument requires the assumption that ['people who tend to address problems quickly and directly will invariably seek dental care at the first sign of problems', "painful conditions will interfere with a person's ability to address problems quickly and directly", 'people who have highly stressful lives tend to address problems quickly and directly', "refusing to think about something troubling contributes to a person's level of stress"]