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Reduce stroke risk with better oral hygiene

secondtry profile image
9 Replies

Those concerned about strokes either on anti-coats or not may be interested in this article dental-tribune.com/articles...

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secondtry
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9 Replies
jennydog profile image
jennydog

Thank you for this. My dentist decided that I had "gum disease" by 3 teeth at the bottom front. This is apparently evidenced by "pockets" due to age-related recession. This is where the term " long in the tooth" comes from. I now have extra visits to the hygienist.

I want to make the point that I do not have bleeding gums or noticeable inflammation and the teeth look very clean. I think the answer is regular dental check-ups and awareness about potential problems.

CDreamer profile image
CDreamer

Thank you for posting - my dentist also treated me for gum disease whilst informing me of the link between gum disease and heart disease and was very specific about oral hygiene - it is her mission in life I think!

I knew about the risks but very interesting about the specific mechanisms which I didn't really know about, thanks for posting.

Booking another hygienist appointment as we speak and getting the gargle out!

BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer

The link between dental infection and endocarditis is well know and I have mentioned it many times here. When I had my second ablation there was a young man in the bed opposite who had it as a result of a botched wisdom tooth extraction . He was still there three month later and although ten years later he is still alive he has never fully recovered.

My (private ) dentist tells me that my gum problems are the result of 60 years of NHS dentistry due the the fact that they do no proactive /preventative treatment on NHS. I am now on three monthly hygiene visits.

meadfoot profile image
meadfoot

All this adds even more weight to Jeanjeannies assertion that her af was impacted by a dental problem. I agree totally with her.

seasider18 profile image
seasider18

Look and read about the late Queen Mothers black teeth and she lived to about 102.

Offcut profile image
Offcut

Interesting article. It appears in Ancient times more people died because of teeth related issues than anything else?

jeanjeannie50 profile image
jeanjeannie50

It's just fascinating how more and more medical discoveries are being made with relation to the heart and it's malfunction.

As most people on here probably remember, my AF disappeared 6 months ago after I had a molar tooth (that had a root infection) extracted. No one could have been more fastidious with their teeth than me. I have tooth aids galore including a Waterpik (shoots water between the teeth and gets bits out you wouldn't have known were there) and a toothbrush sterilizing machine. Then of course I have all the other general aids.

I think the infection in my tooth was getting to my heart via the blood supply in my gums and I guess it had been simmering in the root for years. It certainly never bled from that area that I was aware of, though oddly the tooth above did bleed at times - hmmm. I feel sure any infection in the body elsewhere could probably have an effect on the heart too.

Does anyone else have AF and tooth stories to tell?

Jean

MarkS profile image
MarkS

It's not just stroke risk that can be reduced by good dental hygiene, but the risk of AF itself. See:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/234...

"The risk of AF was lower in subjects receiving dental scaling. Improvement of oral hygiene by dental scaling may be a simple and useful way to prevent AF." The risk of AF was reduced by a third in the study.

secondtry profile image
secondtry

I now take once or twice a week 1gm of Vit C in good absorbent form as a precaution to help fight any inflammation levels reaching a tipping point that causes an issue be it AF or anything else.

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