Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the mouth that destroys the dental supporting tissues. A study led by the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases at the University of Helsinki has analyzed the inflammatory changes associated with periodontitis and recent dental procedures in young patients who had suffered a stroke and found that periodontitis was significantly more common among stroke patients compared to healthy subjects.
The study focused on individuals who had a stroke between the ages of 20 and 50 without any of the known causal factors and also revealed that periodontitis not only increased the risk of having a stroke, but its severity also affected the severity. of stroke.
“The incidence of these strokes has increased in recent decades,” says Jukka Putaala, a neurology specialist at Helsinki University Hospital. “In previous studies, periodontitis has been found to increase the risk of ischemic stroke, but there was no precise information on the importance of oral inflammation in the case of young patients with stroke without traditional causal factors,” explains Susanna Paju. , researcher at the University of Helsinki.
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The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Dental Research and indicate that dental procedures performed in the last three months, such as tooth extractions or root canals, as well as inflamed and symptomatic teeth that had not yet been extracted, increased the risk of stroke.
“Oral bacteria enter the bloodstream in case of mild inflammations, but also in the short term in connection with dental procedures, especially in case of pre-existing inflammations in the mouth,” says Paju, adding that “generally, the body “removes these bacteria from the bloodstream.”
Dental procedures and problem teeth were a particular risk for people with an opening known as a patent foramen ovale in the atrial septum of the heart. According to the researchers, this oval opening could favor the formation of blood clots that would cause strokes, as well as bacteria that enter the bloodstream from the mouth. Patent foramen ovale is common and usually does not require treatment. However, its connection to stroke has been noted in other studies, and closure procedures have been performed to prevent future strokes.
Dental procedures performed in the past three months, as well as swollen and symptomatic teeth that had not yet been extracted, increased the risk of stroke
Additionally, the mouth contains the second richest microbiome in the body, a community of microbes such as bacteria, fungi and viruses that is second only to that of the intestine. A healthy mouth has a balanced microbiome, while periodontitis alters it and contributes to the proliferation of harmful bacteria.
“A vicious circle is created where bacteria feed on tissues destroyed by inflammation. Their reproduction, in turn, accelerates inflammation,” says Pirkko Pussinen, professor of Translational Dentistry at the University of Eastern Finland. Therefore, it is important to react to the symptoms associated with periodontitis in a timely manner. “Bad teeth should be removed and inflammation treated, in addition to checking the teeth regularly,” concludes Paju.
