Gum Bugs Hit Heart: State-of-the-Science

Abstract

Gingival bleeding is a hallmark of chronic periodontal disease; it is likely that the bacteria associated with this disease may produce a low level bacteraemia over extended time periods and the periodontal bacteria enter the bloodstream and travel to major organs like the heart. Microbial infections associated with periodontal disease contribute to cardiovascular disease via transient bacteraemia. Inflammatory and immunological mechanisms which may link periodontal infection and athermanous diseases may be numerous and diverse, potentially involving various cellular and molecular components, direct effects of bacteremia and indirect effects of periodontal tissue inflammation.