Ever since I was a kid, my parents have always stressed the need to brush your teeth. Even though they told me to do it because “they don’t make dentures for kids!”, I knew that proper oral hygiene was important so I wouldn’t develop cavities. However, new research suggests that brushing your teeth might do more than keeping your smile pearly-white.
Brushing your teeth can help free your mouth of bacteria that can cause gingivitis, which if left untreated, can lead to periodontitis (“Peridontitis”, 2020). Periodontal disease has been associated with conditions like heart attack and stroke (Florida Atlantic University, 2020). The bacterium P.
Another study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, examined the association of oral hygiene with atrial fibrillation and heart failure risk in Korea. The study included 161,286 subjects with no history of cardiovascular issues over the course of 10 years, and oral hygiene (including professional dental visits, daily numbers of tooth brushing, and presence of periodontal diseases) was compared to rates of atrial fibrillation and heart failure (Chang et al. 2020). Over this time, 4911 (3% of subjects) cases of atrial fibrillation occurred, as well as 7971 (4.9% of subjects) cases of heart failure. Frequent tooth brushing was found to be significantly associated with
A quick takeaway from this post- if you are reading this and haven’t yet today, go brush your teeth! Your heart might thank you later!
References
Chang Y, Woo HG, Park J, Lee JS, Song T-J. Improved oral hygiene care is associated with decreased risk of occurrence for atrial fibrillation and heart failure: A nationwide population-based cohort study. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. 2020;27(17):1835-1845.
Florida Atlantic University. "Could this
Ghizoni, J. S., Taveira, L. A., Garlet, G. P., Ghizoni, M. F., Pereira, J. R., Dionísio, T. J., Brozoski, D. T., Santos, C. F., & Sant'Ana, A. C. (2012). Increased levels of Porphyromonas
Hey Molly!
ReplyDeleteAs an aspiring future dentist and generally curious student, this post is so fascinating to me. You always hear about dentistry as a holistic medicine and this really highlights why that is. Your mouth impacts so many other aspects of health besides your chance of cavities.
I found an article that examined the dental health of patients with CVD and the patients had overwhelmingly low levels of oral health (Sanchez, 2017). The individuals used were in cardiac rehabilitation following their surgery (Sanchez, 2017). As you mentioned, peridontitis causes bacteria to enter the blood circulation, which can result in an increased risk of CVD. This study found that over half of CVD patients were unaware that there was a connection between oral health and CVD (Sanchez, 2017). Furthermore, 75% of patients said that oral care wasn't discussed with them during their cardiac care (Sanchez, 2017).
Since these two disease are strongly correlated, I'm shocked to hear that they aren't more integrated. I think that moving forward, more dentists and doctors should take the time to explain the effects of certain diseases on the entire body to highlight how interconnected things are. I think that dentists should work closer with cardiac rehabilitation facilities to develop a way to incorporate dental care into the risk of CVD and help the patients' live healthier lives.
Forgot the reference oops:
DeleteSanchez P, Everett B, Salamonson Y, Ajwani S, Bhole S, Bishop J, et al. (2017) Oral health and cardiovascular care: Perceptions of people with cardiovascular disease. PLoS ONE 12 (7): e0181189. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0181189