Periodontal Health and Your Heart

This may blow your mind, but I have a little secret. (No, it’s not that flossing doesn’t really do anything… good try, though.) As it turns out, your mouth… wait for it… is a part of your body! Amazing, right? So now that you know this crazy fact, it probably makes sense that the health of your mouth can impact the health of your body. In honor of Heart Health Awareness Month, let’s talk about how an infection in your mouth could potentially be linked to heart disease.

Researchers have known for some time that there’s a link between periodontal disease (infection in your gums) and heart disease. Just last year, Harvard Medical School published an article reiterating the connection. In fact, “people with gum disease have two to three times the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event.” (Harvard Medical School, 2021) They cited the presence of inflammation as the culprit.

The study of inflammation goes back to the 19th century, but researchers have learned so much about its impact on the body. They’ve done tests showing how inflammation in the mouth from gum disease can increase chances of cardiovascular disease. Let’s break down what that looks like:

  1. Food and bacteria build up on your teeth and gums, known as plaque – hey, it’s only natural!
  2. Any plaque that’s not removed (by flossing or brushing every day) sends an alert to our immune system to send out the “healing cell” so it can fight the infection the plaque causes in the gums.
  3. The gums swell with cells, weaken, and bleeding starts. The “pink in the sink” tells you that you that your gums have an infection, and now that infection is in your blood stream.
  4. Where does the infected blood go? It can’t all go into your sink. Some of it goes back into your blood stream and throughout your body; potentially even to your heart.

While no direct link has yet been established, “it seems reasonable, on the bases of current data, to acknowledge that because untreated or inadequately controlled moderate to severe periodontitis increases the systemic inflammatory burden, periodontitis may independently increase the risks for cardiovascular disease.” (J. D. Friedwald, 2009)

Your hygienist and your dentist may nag you to brush and floss; express concern about the infection in your gums; and worry about the bleeding even when your gums “always bleed”. We do this, not just because we’re bossy and it’s our job (although we might enjoy that part of our job a little TOO much), but because we care about you, and we genuinely care about your overall health and wellbeing. So, the next time we suggest that you should floss a little bit more, or that a Waterpik could help reduce inflammation in your mouth, know that we’re not trying to nag. We only care about you, and we care about your heart.


Works Cited

Harvard Medical School. (2021, February 15). Gum Disease and Heart Disease: The Common Thread. Retrieved from Harvard Publishing Health: health.harvard.edu

J. D. Friedwald, V. K. (2009). The American Journal of Peridontology Editors’ Consensus: Periodontitis and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease. Journal of Periodontology, 1021-1032.