Dentists urged to look for cardiac risk (Sweden)

"Dentists can play key roles in identifying people at risk of fatal heart attacks and referring them for further evaluation, doctors in Sweden suggest. Dentists are encouraged to use HeartScore, a computerized system that calculates the risk of a person dying of a heart attack within a 10-year period, the European Society of Cardiology said in a release Thursday. HeartScore measures cardiovascular disease risk in people ages 40-65 by factoring the person's age, sex, blood pressure and smoking status. People with HeartScores of 10 percent or higher, meaning they had at least a 10-percent risk of having a fatal heart attack or stroke within a 10-year period, were told by dentists to see a doctor about their condition. Using HeartScore, which was tested in Sweden, dentists can identify patients who are unaware they need medical intervention, the American Dental Association said in a release Thursday. Dentists "may find themselves in an opportune position to enhance the overall health and well-being of their patients," the association said" - UPI

Germy mouths linked to heart attacks, study finds

"People with the germiest mouths are the most likely to have heart attacks, U.S. researchers reported. A study that compared heart attack victims to healthy volunteers found the heart patients had higher numbers of bacteria in their mouths, the researchers said. Their findings add to a growing body of evidence linking oral hygiene with overall health" - Reuters

Brush your teeth, save your life?

"Oral surgeon Dr. Gary Bouloux is about to pull a diseased wisdom tooth from his patient's mouth, using forceps that look like a pair of silver pliers. 'We're in good shape,' Bouloux assures his patient. In a smooth, quick motion, Bouloux snatches the white molar from the woman's gum with a loud snap. 'Strong bones,' Bouloux quips to his numb patient. 'You'll never break your hip.' And it might help cut her heart disease risk, too. In theory, by removing his patient's teeth ravaged by gum disease, 'we reduced the number of inflamed and infected sites in her mouth, which may reduce her overall inflammatory burden and thus reduce her risk for cardiovascular disease,' said Bouloux, an assistant professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Doctors have known for years that gum disease and heart disease are linked, but they have yet to reach agreement on the exact reasons behind the connection. Heart disease patients often have several risk factors such as high cholesterol or poor diet, making it impossible to single out bad dental health as a contributing factor" - CNN

Bleeding gums increase risk of heart disease

Bad teeth, bleeding gums and poor dental hygiene can cause heart disease, according to Professor Howard Jenkinson from the University of Bristol. People with poor dental hygiene and those who don't brush their teeth regularly end up with bleeding gums, which provide an entry to the bloodstream for up to 700 different types of bacteria found in our mouths. This increases the risk of having a heart attack