The dental community has known for decades about the correlation between oral health and cardiac health or better yet, between oral inflammation and heart disease. It’s not just about healthy teeth and gums anymore, it is also about the quality of your dental treatments.
What does this mean?
This means that it is important to regularly check to see if old dental treatments you have had performed in the past are still maintaining their biological integrity, and not causing inflammation in the bone and, consequently, in the blood stream. The problem is that very rarely do dental problems of this nature cause any pain and many are overlooked during a quick oral check-up.
The teeth & heart connection
A recent article from the University of Alberta (February 22, 2023), explores the link between periodontal disease and heart disease. Researchers have identified a significant relationship between these two conditions, which you can read about in “Exploring the link between oral health and heart health”.
Essentially, periodontal diseases, caused by infections and inflammation of the gums, have been recognised as an independent risk factor in heart disease by the American Heart Association. The connection is thought to involve inflammation, where periodontal disease increases systemic inflammation, potentially affecting the heart. Bacteria from the oral cavity may travel to the heart, causing local inflammation, invoking an immune response. Additionally, the systemic nature of cytokines and chemokines released during gum inflammation might affect the whole body.
This is why we do things differently at the White Clinic – in addition to our comprehensive and advanced biological dentistry approach, we are Slow Dentistry certified, which means we take all the time necessary in the first appointment with a patient to properly and thoroughly check their health status.
And when it comes to the teeth and heart connection, my team and I test all our patients looking for bio markers. Removing all sources of inflammation is key to a healthy life and a healthy heart!
Written by Dr. Miguel Stanley.
