ThePeople who have type 2 diabetes or who have already had a heart attack are more likely to develop periodontal disease, such as periodontitis, which is the second and most serious stage of gum disease. This is the main conclusion of the study recently presented at EuroPeriod10, a global conference on periodontal disease and implantology, organized by the European Federation of Periodontology, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Researchers analyzed 4,933 randomly selected subjects from the Trøndelag Health Study. All volunteers completed questionnaires about sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, medication use, whether they had type 2 diabetes and whether they had had a myocardial infarction. Subsequently, a clinical evaluation of the teeth and soft tissues of these subjects was performed.

Results from Medical Xpress showed that 866 participants (17.6%) had severe periodontitis. Of these, 147 (3.0%) reported having a heart attack, 224 (4.5%) reported having diabetes and 165 (3.3%) having elevated glycated hemoglobin.

“The results show that patients with diabetes and heart attack survivors are 40% and 70%, respectively, more likely to have severe gum disease,” explained study author Ida Stødle from the University of Oslo, Norway.

Also, according to the expert, previous studies have already indicated a link between diseases. For Stødle, this research, along with other findings, reinforce that “maintaining oral health can benefit health in general.”

The doctor noted that the analysis was an observational study without “causal repercussions.”

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