Medications

Study suggests statins could help fight gum disease

Could taking statins benefit your mouth in addition to your arteries? A new study conducted in cell cultures has shown that cholesterol-lowering drugs help to dampen the inflammation associated with periodontal disease by ...

Cardiology

Q&A: Healthy gums, healthy heart; what's the connection?

Healthy gums are imperative to a healthy mouth, but what about your cardiovascular health? In honor of Heart Month, Dr. Frank Nichols, professor of periodontics at the UConn School of Dental Medicine, unravels the underlying ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Bacteria in the mouth linked to pulmonary fibrosis survival

Bacteria in the mouth may play a role in survival from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), finds a new study led by researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Toothbrushing and hospital infection prevention Q&A

Rupak Datta, MD, Ph.D., MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and an assistant hospital epidemiologist in the Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System. His ...

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Periodontitis

Periodontitis (peri = around, odont = tooth, -itis = inflammation) refers to a number of inflammatory diseases affecting the periodontium — that is, the tissues that surround and support the teeth. Periodontitis involves progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth, and if left untreated, can lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth. Periodontitis is caused by bacteria that adhere to and grow on the tooth's surfaces, along with an overly aggressive immune response against these bacteria. A diagnosis of periodontitis is established by inspecting the soft gum tissues around the teeth with a probe and radiographs by visual analysis, to determine the amount of bone loss around the teeth. Specialists in the treatment of periodontitis are periodontists; their field is known as "periodontology" and "periodontics".

Chronic Periodontitis, the most common form of the disease, progresses relatively slowly and typically becomes clinically evident in adulthood. Aggressive Periodontitis is a rarer form, but as its name implies, progresses more rapidly and becomes clinically evident in adolescence. Although the different forms of periodontitis are all caused by bacterial infections, a variety of factors affect the severity of the disease. Important "risk factors" include smoking, poorly-controlled diabetes, and inherited (genetic) susceptibility.

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