Dr. Mogell Dental Blog

Boca Raton Cosmetic Dentistry

Keep your Teeth, Lower your Risk of Heart Diease

Monday, April 19, 2010

Keeping Your Teeth Lowers Your Risk of Heart Disease

In a soon to be released study in the Journal of Periodontology, Dr. Anders Holmlund demonstrated a link between individuals with periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease.

Over a 12 year period of time, Dr. Holmlund’s team followed 7674 women and men, most with periodontal disease. In that period, 629 of them died and the researchers examined the causes of death - and for 299 of them, it was cardiovascular disease.

It has been well known that oral infections get release their bacteria into the blood stream. Dr. Holmlund stresses that those bacteria are causing a low-grade chronic inflammatory response. This fact alone is a well established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Dr Holmlund related that ''A person with fewer than 10 of their own teeth has a seven times higher risk for death by coronary heart disease than a person of the same age and of the same sex with more than 25 teeth left.'' He feels as though there is a relationship between the periodontal disease, the number of lost teeth and the degree of chronic inflammation.

Having your teethed cleaned by a dental hygienist is proven again to be an important factor in not only keeping your teeth clean but also lower your exposure to cardiovascular disease. Please call our office at 561-394-9000 to schedule an appointment to have your mouth examined and your teeth cleaned to minimize the risk of having periodontal disease.

Kenneth A. Mogell, D.M.D.