March 29, 2024
  
Refer A Friend

Thank you for showing your confidence in us through the referral of your friends!

Click to send a referral email
Quick Links

 Visit our web site
Email Us


Welcome !

 

  • Do clean teeth protect against heart disease?

The study, of nearly 22,000 Taiwanese adults age 50 and older, found that those who'd had a professional tooth "scaling" in the past year were less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke over the next seven years.

Tooth scaling, sometimes called a deep cleaning, involves removing the "plaques" that can build up on the teeth and deep in tooth pockets within the gumline. Those plaques harbor bacteria that can lead to gum disease.

The new findings, reported in the American Journal of Medicine, do not prove that a good dental cleaning will cut your risk of heart problems.

But the study is in line with past research that has linked gum disease to an increased risk of heart disease, said lead researcher Dr. Zu-Yin Chen, a cardiology fellow at Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan.

Since gum disease is caused by bacterial infection, researchers suspect that it may contribute to heart attacks or stroke by causing a chronic state of inflammation in blood vessels.

And studies have shown that treating gum disease can cut the levels of inflammatory substances in the blood, Chen told Reuters Health in an email.

Still, no one knows for sure whether a regular visit to your dentist can prevent a future heart attack.

For the study, Chen's team looked at insurance records for 21,876 adults age 50 and older. Taiwan's national healthcare program pays for tooth scaling, whether a person has severe gum disease or not.

About half of the people in the study had had a tooth scaling in the past year, while the rest had not.

Over the next seven years, 1.6 percent of the tooth-scaling group suffered a heart attack and 8.9 percent had a stroke.

In the comparison group, 2.2 percent had a heart attack and 10 percent had a stroke.

The researchers then weighed some other factors, like whether people had chronic health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease. It turned out that a deep tooth cleaning was linked to a 31 percent reduction in the risk of a future heart attack, and a 15 percent dip in the odds of a stroke.

People who got deep cleanings more than once every two years during the follow-up period had even lower risks of cardiovascular "events."

But the study also had a number of limitations. An important one, Chen said, was that the researchers had no information on people's smoking habits, weight, diet habits or family history -- all prime factors influencing the risks of heart attack and stroke.

It's also impossible for the study to determine whether people who get regular dental cleanings might also have a healthier lifestyle in other ways.

For now, the researchers recommended taking care of your oral health for the sake of your oral health -- with the possibility of benefiting your heart health as well.

"Bad dental hygiene is detrimental to our health, so it's very important to take care of your teeth," said Chen, who presented some of his team's results last November at the American Heart Association meeting.

By Amy Norton

Source: http://bit.ly/IlKu8h American Journal of Medicine, online April 5, 2012.

Last Updated: 2012-04-19 10:00:08 -0400 (Reuters Health)

Copyright © 2012 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.


4/19/2012 6:19:23 PM 
DR. AGUSTIN ZERON
AAP Responds to American Heart Association Statement 
Recent media coverage of a scientific statement released from the American Heart Association on the relationship between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease has created significant confusion. 

While the statement itself is scientifically sound, the AHA-issued press release and corresponding media coverage does not accurately reflect the principal conclusions of the statement. The statement is consistent with the Academy's position in that there is an association between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease, but no causal relationship. 

The Academy was made aware of the statement's publication early Tuesday. The Academy issued a press release yesterday showing our support for the AHA statement, and encouraging the healthcare community to continue to communicate the risk of heart disease related to periodontal disease. 

However, we found the AHA-issued press release to contain overly negative and misleading information. Unfortunately, the AHA press release is resonating with the consumer press and generating considerable media pick-up. The Academy has been contacted by several top-tier consumer news outlets for comment, including CNN, WebMD and Reuters. 

Despite the perceived negative media coverage, the AAP remains committed to providing evidence-based and scientifically valid periodontal health information to the public. As members of the Academy, we can all do our part by continuing to educate our patients and colleagues about the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with periodontal disease. The Academy has developed talking points and a Patient Page for your use. 

Your leadership is doing everything we can to get the accurate message out to the public. We appreciate your support in providing this important information to your patients. 

Pamela K. McClain 

For your better health!

Tuckerton Dental

Tuckerton Dental: 210 Great Bay Blvd.  - Tuckerton, NJ 08087
ph: 609-296-1007 - email:
drpetrosky@comcast.net