Dental Disease a Risk Factor of Coronary Heart Disease

[Admin]

Look what I got from http://www.bracesinfo.com/cardiovascular.htm:

In a paper published in J Am Dent Assoc 1998 Mar;129(3):301-11 Dr Walter Loesche from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, wrote

    "Several recent studies have shown a link between dental disease and coronary heart disease. The authors studied 320 U.S. veterans in a convenience sample to assess the relationship between oral health and systemic diseases among older people. They present cross-sectional data confirming that a statistically significant association exists between a diagnosis of coronary heart disease and certain oral health parameters, such as the number of missing teeth, plaque benzoyl-DL-arginine-naphthylamide test scores, salivary levels of Streptococcus sanguis and complaints of xerostomia. The oral parameters in these subjects were independent of and more strongly associated with coronary heart disease than were recognized risk factors, such as serum cholesterol levels, body mass index, diabetes and smoking status. However, because of the convenience sample studied, these findings cannot be generalized to other populations. "

To translate this article, in this study dental disease was a larger risk factor for heart disease than being overweight, having a high cholesterol level, not exercising or smoking. Click here to see the abstract of the paper.

There have been many other studies and all of the studies so far show similar effects.

I heard this over the news yesterday as well.

[cecilia]

Yes, I've heard about this before. It's good to have a reference posted up here. Maybe we should start screening our patients for dental diseases!

[drvolcanoe]

wow! this IS some info...
the only think i knew is that dental treatments may lead lead infective/vascular heart diseases, but CHD!

So...oral hygiene is of paramount important, eh.
In recent days, the Public are currently being adviced not t take their oral hygiene too lightly,

[amanda]

It is because the bacteria that is bought about by dental disease spread from the mouth to digestive tract and the heart.  The most common disease is endocarditis.

[nilwanmal]

Both periodontal disease and poor oral hygiene showed stronger associations with total mortality than with coronary heart disease. Whether this is a causal association is unclear. Dental health may be a more general indicator of personal hygiene and possibly health care practices.