Periodontal and Heart Diseases Are Linked

The severity and occurrence of coronary artery disease has been linked to periodontitis, researchers report in the Journal of Periodontology.

In a study involving 108 people, periodontitis was seen to influence the presence of coronary artery disease and increases the risk of heart attack or stroke.

We found that 91 percent of patients with cardiovascular disease suffered from moderate to severe periodontitis, while this proportion was 66 percent in the non-cardiac patients, said Professor E.H. Rompen, Department of Periodontology – Dental Surgery, C.H.U. Liege, Belgium.

The study proposed two hypotheses for the linkage. One suggests: periodontal pathogens could enter the bloodstream, invade the blood vessel walls and ultimately cause atherosclerosis, which is a process set in motion when cells lining he arteries are damaged as a result of high blood pressure, smoking, toxic substances, and other agents.

Another hypothesis is based on several studies that have shown periodontal infections can be correlated with increased plasma levels of fibrinogen, which creates blood clots, C-reactive protein, or several cytokines, or hormone proteins.

The study was published in the Journal of Periodontology.