Dental infections and abscesses: Cardiac risk

Dental infection and cardiac risk

This article has a purely informative role. It aims to sensitize people at risk and to list the most frequent diseases. The diseases mentioned above are by no means a generality and are a summary of various medical articles.
The symptoms listed should not be a source of remote diagnosis and in no way replace a visit to your doctor or dentist.

An oral infection, such as periodontitis or an abscess, can be the reason or cause of aggravation of various diseases that we are going to list. Oral health is directly related to the health of The mouth and the bacteria that form there, whether useful or harmful to our health, form a natural barrier against a multitude of microorganisms. However, many of them pass this barrier and even more so when s 'develops an infection there.

Risks to the heart from dental infections

Risk of heart attack

Studies have shown that men with periodontitis are 25% more affected by heart attacks. However, we show a downside to this figure. Indeed, tobacco being a factor in periodontitis, it is likely that this figure can be revised to around 20% according to our calculations. Cardiovascular accidents are nonetheless significant.

Infectious endocarditis

Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner wall of the heart, mainly affecting the heart valves (mostly the mitral valve) and which can lead to the formation of ulcers or even perforations. Causes a malfunction of the heart (the valves are like valves which only let the blood pass in one direction) Most often of bacterial origin, if not treated, can have very serious consequences on the body (vascular problem, septic shock), especially in patients already suffering from heart disease.

The penetration of bacteria into the general circulation can be caused by a simple surgical act (ex: extraction of a tooth) or during chewing in a person suffering from periodontitis - the germs from the blood, go to be transported to predisposed organs and thanks to their adhesive property - to be grafted to them.

Reduce heart risk

To reduce the risk associated with dental infections, it is above all necessary to treat dental infections. For this, the treatment to be implemented will depend on the type of infection. See how to treat dental infections

  • Primary prevention through rigorous dental hygiene and primary care (extractions of infected teeth, caries care, etc.).
  • Classification of people said at risk, already suffering from cardiovascular problems and preventing a secondary infection thanks to antibiotic prophylaxis
  • If the presence of periodontitis-type infections or excessive infectious lesion of the bone, it will be recommended to extract the affected teeth and place BAx basal implants or make a bridge over natural teeth.