Akhtar Hussain Bokhari, Ayyaz A Khan.
The relationship of periodontal disease to cardiovascular diseases - Review of literature.
J Pak Med Assoc Jan ;56(4):177-81.

Association of Oral and Systemic diseases has gained importance because the high occurrence of oral diseases is an extremely common source of infection. Epidemiological Studies have presented periodontal diseases as a risk factor for development of cardiovascular diseases. A chronic oral infection such as periodontitis is a constant potential source of infection and has now been considered as a separate risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, peripheral arterial disease and respiratory diseases as well as delivery of low-birth-weight infants. The possible pathways linking oral infections to systemic diseases are metastatic infections, bacterial endotoxins, and systemic vascular injury. People with a history of periodontal disease and/or tooth loss were found at higher risk for Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) as compared to those without periodontal disease and/or tooth loss. All studies on the relationship of periodontal diseases to cardiovascular diseases are inconclusive and most of the data is based on epidemiological studies. This is a Review article.

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