Eriodontal Disease: How Brushing Your Teeth Could Protect Your Heart

Brushing your teeth could save your life. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. Especially if your teeth and gums are cleaned on a regular basis by a dental hygienist.

In the e-Alert 'Revealing the Matrix' I told you how good oral hygiene has been shown to help prevent pneumonia, the disease responsible for more thousands of fatalities each year. According to studies published in the Journal of Periodontology and the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, bacteria that develop along the gum line often accumulate in the throat. When your immune system is not performing at an optimal level, this can create respiratory problems such as pneumonia.

The health of your teeth and gums may also have a direct effect on the health of your heart. This isn't really news - since the late 90's we've seen growing evidence that periodontal disease (an advanced form of gum inflammation) may be linked to an increased risk of heart disease. But research now shows that in addition to diligent brushing and flossing, using supplements of an important amino acid could provide another very effective defence against periodontal disease, and, in turn, pneumonia and heart disease.

Down in the crevice
A recent study conducted at the University of Birmingham here in the UK examined 20 subjects - 10 with healthy gums, and 10 with advanced gum disease. From each subject, researchers took samples of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), a fluid within the gums that is routinely released from the crevices under the teeth. All of the subjects with healthy gums were shown to have high levels of the antioxidant glutathione, while the subjects with periodontal disease had substantially lower levels of glutathione. When blood serum levels were tested for glutathione, the same disparity was recorded for the two groups.

The fact that this study tested for glutathione (as opposed to any number of other antioxidants) is significant. Glutathione is enormously effective antioxidant found in every cell of the body, most notably in immune system cells. It has not only been shown to protect against disease, but may also protect other antioxidants (such as vitamins C and E) from oxidizing, prolonging and enhancing their effectiveness.

Which came first...?
But while these study results would indicate that boosting glutathione levels might help prevent and control periodontal disease, other questions remain. The researchers wondered, for instance, if lower levels of glutathione directly contribute to gum disease, or if free radicals, produced by gum disease inflammation, depletes the stores of glutathione. The answer may very likely be 'yes' on both counts, but we'll have to wait for further research before we have definitive answers.

The word that jumps out here is, 'inflammation.' A 1997 study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the US, revealed that patients with advanced gum disease, who had also suffered heart attacks, all showed significantly higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) than heart attack survivors who did not have gum disease.

This isn't a surprise, inasmuch as we've seen before that elevated CRP is a key marker for inflammation. But it does establish further evidence linking periodontal disease and heart disease. I've reported in the past on a study that showed how the levels of C-reactive protein have been recognised as an important marker of heart disease risk.

Taken together, these studies add further circumstantial evidence to a cycle of cause and effect that goes like this: A low level of the antioxidant glutathione may be associated with periodontal disease; periodontal disease is characterised by inflammation; inflammation brings up CRP levels; elevated CRP levels may indicate a risk of heart disease; a risk of heart disease may be reduced by an increased intake of antioxidants; and elevated levels of the antioxidant glutathione may help prevent periodontal disease.

Is anybody else a little dizzy?