Everyone's Health

Out of the mouths of babies

Out of the mouths of babes – or rather, dental researchers at University College London – comes this news: Intensive treatment of periodontitis (a gum disease) can directly improve the health of blood vessels and possibly prevent heart attacks and strokes.

In the first clinical trial of its kind, English scientists with colleagues at the University of Connecticut found that intensive treatment of patients with severe periodontitis also helped restore blood vessel function elsewhere in the body.

The mechanism connecting the two phenomena isn't fully understood. Gum disease involves a bacterial infection that invades the tissue around the teeth. Scientists theorize that the bacteria may disturb other tissue in the body as well, because some of the bacteria enters the bloodstream.

Or periodontitis may trigger a low-grade inflammatory response throughout the body that includes a detrimental effect to vascular walls, most notably in the heart.

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