Researchers have shown that the same bacteria that cause gum disease also promotes heart disease.
In the study, the researchers infected mice with four specific bacteria (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, Fusobacterium nucleatum) that cause gum disease and tracked their spread.
Once the bacteria were detected in the mouse gums, heart and aorta, researchers saw an increase in risk factors, including cholesterol and inflammation, associated with heart disease.
Kesavalu Lakshmyya in the University of Florida's Department of Periodontology in the College of Dentistry, said in Western medicine there is a disconnect between oral health and general health in the rest of the body; Dentistry is a separate field of study from Medicine.
Lakshmayya said the mouth is the gateway to the body and our data provides one more piece of a growing body of research that points to direct connections between oral health and systemic health.
