Imagine how much time and money a person devotes to one's heart health. There is the cost of a gym, cost of antioxidant vitamins, cost of special foods and supplements, and.....the list can go on for a long time.
Therefore, it is remarkable, that our mouth has contained a secret contributor to our heart health. Is this similar to the old adage about the way to a man's heart is through his stomach aka mouth? Scientists say yes! Scientists have hypothesized that people with chronic gum, or periodontal disease are predisposed to heart disease and stroke.
The more teeth a person has lost, the more likely he or she is to have both advanced periodontal infections and potentially clogging plaques in the carotid artery. The carotid artery is the vessel that feeds the brain.
In the past, smoking clouded the above finding, as smoking causes periodontal disease and circulatory vascular disease. However, we now know that regardless of the presence or absence of smoking, one's oral health does affect the vascular system.
Periodontal disease was defined as pockets around the tooth of at least 5 mm. and a loss of a tooth's normal attachment to bone that is 4 mm or greater.
The study is titled, "Relationship between periodontal disease, tooth loss, and carotid artery plaque," and it was published online in the journal Stroke on Thursday, July 31, 2003.
National Institute of Dental and Cariofacial Research. NIH. HHS
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