Gum Disease-  Heart Disease and Stroke

Gum disease affects more than the gums and the teeth. Research has shown that gum disease and heart disease are highly correlated. The number one cause of death in the country is heart disease. Gum disease is a contributing factor to heart disease, heart attacks, and stroke. People with gum disease are twice as likely for developing heart disease than those with healthy gums.

Since gum disease is an infection of the gums, the immune system spends some of its resources trying to fight it. This extra strain on the immune system makes you more susceptible to other ailments and diseases since your body’s defense mechanism is already fighting another battle.

Furthermore, when someone develops heart disease they are given certain medications and health regimens to follow to keep their heart disease under control. One of these health protocols is to keep the gums free of gum disease! And if the patient is still unable to keep their gums healthy, they put themselves at increased risk of dying from their heart disease. And that’s because gum disease adds an extra workload for the body’s immune system.

Gum Disease – Diabetes – Tooth Loss

Gum disease is an inflammtory disease. And the body’s inflammatory response while useful in acute cases (e.g. cuts, bruises, etc.), becomes a problem when it is in use all the time as in chronic disease. Gum disease makes the regulation of blood sugar level challenging in everyone because of this inflammatory response. This difficulty in regulation of blood sugar level plays a central role in diabetes. And presence of diabetes leads to further inflammatory response. This causes the disease to progress much more rapidly. A diabetic patient has a weakened immune system and is more prone to severe periodontal infections. Patients with diabetes and periodontal disease end up losing most of their teeth over time and at a fairly young age.

Gum Diseases – Pregnancy Complications

A 2023 study showed that pregnant women with untreated gum disease are more likely to develop complications with their pregnancy such as premature births and low birth weight. Oftentimes the micro-organisms responsible for gum disease are circulating in the blood and cross into the unborn baby’s blood system as well. This means the baby is born with the bacteria responsible for gum disease. Babies born before full term have a higher incidence of brain injury, hearing, and eyesight problems.

Gum Disease and Rheumatic Diseases

Rheumatic disease can attack different body parts such as joints, connective tissues and even specific organs. Some 6 million people suffer from rheumatic diseases such as gout, rheumatoid arthritis, irritable bowl disease and more. How does this happen? These chronic inflammatory disorders and gum disease are linked by the presence of chronic inflammatory response of the body. It is shown that people with these medical conditions are more likely to suffer from gum disease. And gum disease further amplifies the inflammtory condition making everthing worse. Medicine is aimed at finding cures to the symptoms of the problem. It only makes sense to help reduce the risk of such problems by having gums that are healthy and free of disease.

Gum Disease and Respiratory Disease

Another way gum disease attacks our body is through our respiratory system. As the size of bacterial colonies in gum disease multiply and grow, some of the bacteria can become “airborne” inside the mouth. The airborne bacteria can then travel down the airways into the lungs as we breathe. These bacterial invasion of the airway and the lungs increase the risk of developing emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia and bronchitis.

Gum Disease – Cancer – Alzheimer’s

Gum disease may have an impact on development of different types of cancer. For example, men with periodontal disease are at a higher risk of having kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and some blood cancers. Another example of gum disease having significant health consequences is the association between gum disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Gum disease causes release of toxins and bacteria into the blood stream. This event causes our body to deploy a defensive response. This response through formation of a specific protein is a key indicator of Alzheimer’s disease. In a 2020 study by the NIH, gum disease was linked to development of Alzheimer’s. A 2024 study points to observable changes as seen on the MRI of patients with gum disease.

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