Researchers at Columbia University in New York suggest that if you look after your gums, you could also be reducing your risk of heart disease. They claim that improving dental care slows the speed with which plaque builds up in the arteries. Writing in a recent online issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association , they report a prospective study that shows how improving gum health is linked to a clinically significant slower progression of atherosclerosis , the process where plaque builds up in arteries and increases a person’s risk of heart disease , stroke and death. Lead author Moïse Desvarieux, associate professor of Epidemiology at Columbia’s Mailman School of Health, says: “These results are important because atherosclerosis progressed in parallel with both clinical periodontal disease and the bacterial profiles in the gums. This is the most direct evidence yet that modifying the periodontal bacterial profile could play a role in preventin...
