Denstistry and Health

family & cosmetic dentistry

Dentistry and Health

The following are articles dealing with various dental topics. To view the full article, click the article title.

Periodontal Treatment Improves Glycemic Control in Diabetics. Christine Kilgore

Periodontal disease and Risk of Cerebrovascular Disease: The First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Its Follow-up Study. Tiejian Wu; Maurizio Trevisan; Robert J. Genco; Joan P. Dorn; Karen L. Falkner; Christopher T. Sempos

Periodontitis an Independent Risk Factor for CHD. (coronary heart disease)(Brief Article) Christine Kilgore

Periodontitis Tied To Preterm Birth. (Brief Article) (Statistical Data Included) Christine Kilgore

Family Practice News, August 1, 2000

Periodontal Treatment Improves Glycemic Control in Diabetics. Christine Kilgore

WASHINGTON -- Treating periodontal disease in diabetic patients appears to improve metabolic control...

In a small 1992 study 9 patients with severe periodontal disease and poorly controlled type 1 diabetes had 2 weeks of mechanical periodontal therapy (scaling and root planing) plus systemic doxycycline. Five who improved periodontally had significant reductions in hemoglobin [A.sub.1c] Blycemic control did not change in the other four who had no improvement in their gum disease, said Dr. Mealey, chief of periodontics at the U.S. Air Force Regional Hospital at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

But the systemic benefit of combining mechanical therapy and systemic antibiotic use may be only short term. at 6 months of follow-up, [HbA.sub.1c] levels were inching back to their baseline levels...

Research on periodontitis and diabetes still has far to go, but that doesn't mean that physicians and dentists shouldn't act on what appears to be a very likely association, Dr. Mealey remarked. "Just because obesity doesn't directly cause heart disease, we don't blow it off. We treat risk factors--that's what we do."

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Archives of Internal Medicine, Oct. 9, 2000

Periodontal disease and Risk of Cerebrovascular Disease: The First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and Its Follow-up Study. Tiejian Wu; Maurizio Trevisan; Robert J. Genco; Joan P. Dorn; Karen L. Falkner; Christopher T. Sempos.

Periodontal disease has been found to be a potential risk factor for coronary heart disease.

However, its association with cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) is much less studied.

...This study examines the association between periodontal disease and CVA. The study cohort comprises 9962 adults aged 25 to 74 years who participated in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and its follow-up study...

...Periodontitis is significant risk factor for total CVA and, in particular, nonhemorrhagic stroke...

...Periodontal disease is an important risk factor for total CVA and, in particular, nongemorrhagic stroke.

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Family Practice News, August 1, 2000

Periodontitis an Independent Risk Factor for CHD. (coronary heart disease)(Brief Article). Christine Kilgore

WASHINGTON -- The evidence linking periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease is strong enough at the risk should be discussed with patients who have gum disease...

People with severe periodontal disease carry a 1.5-fold greater risk, at the minimum, for coronary heart disease, compared with those without gum disease...

At least five longitudinal studies have shown that periodontal disease increases the risk of coronary heart disease and cardiovascular events. Each has "done [it's] best" to adjust of other related variables, said Steven Offenbacher, D.D.S., professor of periodontics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Of 1,147 men followed for 18 years, those who had severe periodontal bone loss at baseline had a 1.5-fold greater risk for coronary heart disease, two times the rate of fatal heart attacks as seen in controls, and almost three times the risk for stroke he said.

The biologic basis for the link between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease is still being unraveled. It appears, he said, "that some part [of the link between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease] is mediated by inflammation and some part by infectious challenge."

Severe periodontal disease activated liver function, Dr. Offenbacher reported.

Oral organisms have been clearly shown to cause two phenomena: platelet aggregation and an exuberant inflammatory response that can exacerbate atherogenesis. People with periodontal disease have elevated levels of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 "The studies all seem to point to the fact that periodontal disease is [independently] an activator of the acute phase response" of inflammation, he said.

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Family Practice News, June 1, 2000

Periodontitis Tied To Preterm Birth. (Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included). Christine Kilgore

WASHINGTON -- New evidence linking periodontal disease and preterm birth shows for the first time a significant relationship between severity of the oral infection and the risk of premature delivery.

In prospective study of about 700 pregnant women, those with localized periodontal disease (affecting less than 30% of the gums) had three to five times the risk of delivering prematurely as women with healthy mouths. Pregnant women with generalized disease (affecting at least 30% of the gums) had almost nine times the risk, according to preliminary findings...

Data from past case-control studies have shown that women with periodontal disease are between three and eight times more likely depending on the study, to deliver a preterm infant than are women without such infections.

In the current study the association between periodontal disease and preterm birth occurred independently of other known risk factors like lower genital tract infections and alcohol or tobacco use...

In a separate analysis of 2,800 pregnant women, researchers also found a significant association between bacterial vaginosis and periodontal disease.

Both periodontitis and bacterial vaginosis have been found to be independent risk factors of prematurely, but never have they been reported to be associated with each other...

For now, women who are considering pregnancy should have a full periodontal exam. Pregnant women with periodontal disease should be treated "relatively conservatively" in the second trimester...

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