A Healthy Mouth Leads to a Healthy Heart

Researchers at VSPM Dental College and Research Institute (Maharastra University, India) conclude that periodontal disease a.k.a. gum disease, should be diagnosed and treated at its earliest onset to control and reduce what they term as “the epidemic” of cardiovascular disease and thereby reduce overall mortality.

The results which led to this compelling conclusion involved a study of 60 individuals, half with healthy gums and half with chronic periodontal disease. These subjects underwent ultrasound scanning to determine the thickness of their arteries; clinicians measured their perio pocket depths, clinical attachment loss, plaque index, gingival index and collected selected biomarkers, such as cholesterol and triglyceride levels from the subjects.

Periodontal disease was positively linked to atherosclerosis (hardening and thickening of the artery walls due to plaque accumulation) leading to the researchers’ conclusion that there is a high inter-relationship between cardiovascular disease and gum disease.