Patients with some type of gum disease have 25 to 50% more risk of undergoing cardiovascular health.
Cardiologists and dentists assign this relationship to the great number of bacteria that are put under the gum and that can pass into the blood and affect other parts of the body.
Gums care can help maintain good cardiovascular health as recognized by the American Association of Cardiology, which a recent consensus document has established the gums care recommendation as one more of the strategies to prevent ischaemic cardiopathy. For example, periodontitis treatment may reduce protein C-reactive levels to a range considered as low cardiovascular risk.
Periodontics is one of the most important disciplines of dentistry as the health of gums is directly linked to other more serious problems.
The link between periodontal and cardiovascular disease is especially suggestive and clear with cardiovascular diseases "with damage to the arteries," as "this entails a widespread process of inflammation and, after all, periodontal disease remains a chronic inflammation 2, as explained by the ex-president of the Spanish Society of Cardiology Eduardo de Teresa, Head of Cardiology and Social Security Unit of the Heart Unit of the Virtual University Hospital of Victoria (Málaga).
Information of interest:
- Eight out of ten Spanish people older than 35 have problems with their gums as per the National Health Survey.
- Periodontitis is a leading cause of teeth loss
- Excessive bacterial exposure to gums can increase the cardiovascular risk by 1.7 to 3.3 times
- Cardiovascular diseases are the first cause of death in Spain.
