Oral Health and Heart

The association between dental and cardiovascular diseases appears to be indirect or circumstantial and the results from previous studies connecting dental diseases to cardiovascular diseases are inconsistent. The aim in this cross-sectional study was to investigate whether there are associations between dental and cardiovascular diseases when adjusted for other predictors. This study indicated that the number of missing teeth showed a possible association with history of stroke. Number of carious tooth surfaces and gingival bleeding were found to be associated with history of congestive heart failure. Heart attack was shown to be associated with the number of missing teeth; in the sub-sample, heart attack did not show an association with any of the dental diseases. Association between periodontal pockets and cardiovascular diseases was not shown in this study. Additional studies are suggested to determine the nature of the relationship between the oral and cardiovascular diseases. Laboratory measures of infection and clinical evaluations should be used in longitudinal studies for further investigations.