Medical
Risks of Periodontal Infections
Untreated periodontal disease (gum disease) is by far the number one cause of tooth loss in the United States today. Did you know that ongoing medical research has shown that there are significant medical risks to allowing periodontal infections to persist untreated?
Periodontal diseases are site-specific, communicable, bacterial infections. These Periodontal Infections (PI) have been shown to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, pre-term and low–birth weight babies, and pneumonia. Below are summaries of a few relevant research articles pertaining to this subject.
Heart Disease
The risk of developing heart disease was increased by 168% in those who had a Periodontal Infection.
Compendium, Fall 1999; Genco et al.
Patients ages 30–40 who show radiographic (x-ray) evidence of bone loss around teeth are 50% more likely to have coronary heart disease. Fatal coronary heart disease is twice as likely in those with Periodontal Infection than in patients without. Stroke in patients with Periodontal Infection is three times more likely than in patients without.
J Periodontology, 1996, 67; Beck et al.
Patients with periodontitis are 72% more likely to have coronary heart disease even after accounting for all other factors. Mortality is 2.12 times more likely in patients with Periodontal Infection.
British Medical Journal 1993; Loesch, et al.
Stroke
In stroke cases, only the dental factor is causative and significant. Risk of stroke is 2.5 times as high in people with Periodontal Infections; treatment of Periodontal Infections offers a new way to prevent strokes.
Stroke, 1997, 28: 1724-1729; Grau et al.
Diabetes
Effective control of Periodontal Infections in patients with diabetes reduces the level of advanced glycolation products in the serum to normal levels; therefore, treatment of Periodontal Infections reduces the level of glycosylated hemoglobin, thus improving the metabolic control of diabetes mellitus.
Periodontal Disease & Human Health Symposium, Univ. of North Carolina, 1997
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Individuals with rheumatoid arthritis have a greater prevalence of advanced forms of Periodontal Infections, and vise-versa. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease with remarkably similar patterns of tissue destruction to periodontitis.
J. Clin Periodontol, 2000: 27: 267-272; Mercado et al.
Pre-Term and Low Birth Weight Babies
The odds of a spontaneous pre-term birth are sevenfold if severe Periodontal Infection is present. Periodontal Infection may be as deleterious to the mother and fetus as smoking and alcohol abuse.
Compendium, Fall 1999; Offenbacher et al.
Pneumonia
A common route of infection by oral microorganisms is through aspiration of fluids containing pathogenic microorganisms that may infect the lower respiratory tract and cause pneumonia.
Periodontal Disease & Human Health Symposium, Univ. of North Carolina, 1997
In table form, the above findings look like this:
Medical Risks of Periodontal Infections
Medical Condition |
Increased Risk |
Heart Disease |
72% - 168% |
Fatal Coronary Heart Disease |
50% |
Stroke |
300% |
Pre-Term Birth |
700% |
Diabetes |
Increased Risk |
Rheumatoid Arthritis |
Increased Risk |
Pneumonia Aspiration |
Increased Risk |
The diagnosis and treatment of Periodontal Infections is critical to your oral health and, as has been shown above, may be essential to maintaining your overall systemic health. It has become increasingly obvious that our protocol of microscopic diagnosis and anti-infective, non-surgical therapy is more important now than ever before. Our goal remains to keep our patients in optimum oral and systemic health.
Note: For further information on these topics, please refer to the periodontal section of our web site and to the following wonderfully informative links:
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