More Evidence of Link Between Periodontal Disease and Cardiovascular Risk

There has long been evidence that periodontal issues and gingivitis have had links to issues with cardiovascular health, even cardiovascular disease. A new, large multicentre study drives this point home. The report was released on April 9, 2014 and used over 15,000 patients with chronic coronary heart disease and information about their dental health.

The results showed that many of the 15,000 showed indicators of periodontal disease like very few remaining teeth or gum bleeding. These symptoms went along with cardiovascular disease and were also accompanied by socioeconomic risk factors. One the other hand those patients who had fewer risk factors of CVD like lower glucose levels, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, systolic blood pressure, and waist circumference had more teeth and few dental issues. In these, more cardiovascular healthy, patients they were also less likely to smoke and have Diabetes and had more teeth. These patients usually had achieved a higher level of education, used more alcohol and had more stress at work.

This report was published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology. They asked those in the study to report how many teeth they had (non, 1-14, 15-20, 21-25, or 26-32 ALL). They also asked them to report on whether their gums bled when they brushed their teeth. 16% of those in the study reported that they had no teeth, a very high number. 41% said they had less than 15 teeth remaining, and just over a quarter of those surveyed said they had experienced gum bleeding when brushing their teeth. There were some differences when it came to different ethnic groups. The highest rate of both tooth loss and gum bleeding came from Eastern Europe. Of everyone questioned, nearly 70% claimed to be smokers.

The facts cannot be ignored. Cardiovascular disease is greatly affected by gum and mouth health. The only way to stop this is to increase education, try to fight poverty, and convince people that for their own self interest they need to stop smoking and to brush and floss. Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest killers on the planet and anything we can do to prevent more people from dying is worthwhile.