Use Listerine daily for fresh breath and to prevent heart disease! Sounds crazy? Many dental product companies are capitalizing on this claim without backing it up.
This issue was addressed in a lecture last Wednesday at Mount Sinai Hospital by Dr. Howard Tenenbaum, associate dean of diagnostic and biological sciences at U of T’s faculty of dentistry, and cardiologist Dr. Joseph Minkowitz. Since a possible correlation between dental and cardiac health surfaced a year ago, misconceptions began percolating through the media.
“Cardiac disease is a problem that’s sweeping across the Western nations,” Minkowitz said. Thirty per cent of all deaths in Canada yearly are due to cardiovascular disease, or atherosclerosis.
Characterized by damage to arterial walls, this condition often begins in childhood and progresses slowly throughout life. Fat, cholesterol, blood-clotting factors, and bacteria collect in damaged stretches of arteries, causing inflammation that gradually stops the flow of blood. Suddenly, by unknown means, the vessel becomes entirely blocked and the patient has a heart attack.
“We don’t know why on Monday [the patient] can be playing nine holes of golf and on Tuesday he’s in the emergency room clutching his chest,” admitted Minkowitz.
Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by toxins released by bacteria that accumulate on the teeth. This leads to the decay of ligaments that hold teeth in place and eventually, if left untreated, to a mouthful of dentures.
Because significant correlations have linked poor dental and cardiac health, some scientists have suggested that the bacteria in the mouth enter the blood stream and damage arteries. The media and dental care industry have seized this hypothesis, prematurely announcing that taking care of your teeth will help your heart.
“The central question to me is…does one cause the other? Does one aggravate the other?” Tenenbaum asked, stressing that causality has not been established between periodontitis and heart disease.
Both doctors agreed that public attention should be focused on the risk factors predisposing certain people to either disease.
“The risk factors are almost identical,” said Tenenbaum. “This may be the key [to understanding the connection between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease], not that one is causing the other.”
Genetics, stress, blood pressure, and lifestyle choices such as diet, exercise and especially smoking are all risk factors attributed to both diseases. Still, both doctors agreed that despite the lack of evidence that it will save your heart, it’s still a good idea to floss.
