Title: Can Periodontal Treatment Reduce CVD?

Author:

Section/SPIG: Oral Health

Issue Date:

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CHICAGO, June 1, 2009 --­ Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading killer in the United States, is a major public health issue contributing to 2,400 deaths each day. Periodontal disease, a chronic inflammatory disease that destroys the bone and tissues that support the teeth, affects nearly 75 percent of Americans and is the major cause of adult tooth loss. While the prevalence rates of these disease states seem grim, research suggests that managing one disease may reduce the risk for the other.
   [Posted on the dental-public-health-listserv June 2, 2009. See: The American Journal of Cardiology and Journal of Periodontology Editors' Consensus: Periodontitis and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease. Journal of Periodontology 2009;80:1021-1032.]
 
Editorial Analysis
If 75 percent of the American population eventually develops inflammatory periodontal disease and there are probably less than 5,000 periodontists in the United States, even fewer if the implant component is deducted from their limited practice, how in the world will all these inflamed patients be treated? If periodontal treatment can effectively reduce cardiovascular disease, perhaps all dentists should become periodontists, with dental therapists providing routine restorative treatment. Since all that good periodontal treatment will not only reduce CVD but also tooth loss and extractions, fewer oral surgeons will be needed, and maybe some of them will also become periodontists. We could produce more dental hygienists and encourage them to work independently in schools, colleges, universities, factories, nursing homes, military bases and prisons where people congregate; if we made all this free, e.g., tax supported, who knows, maybe there would be a significant reduction in CVD and some of the cardiovascular surgeons could then also become periodontists or hygienists.....there are just so many possibilities.
jwf