Oral Health and Heart Disease

The following literature review will explore research that has investigated the relationship between dental health and cardiovascular disease. The discussion will focus on the significance of the association between oral health and cardiovascular disease, oral health and mortality due to cardiovascular disease, as well as other potential risk factors associated with this relationship.

An effective starting point in the investigation of the association between dental health and cardiovascular disease is to compare oral health of individuals with and without heart disease. Starkhammar et al., (2008) sought to examine the periodontal conditions of individuals with coronary heart disease and those without any heart problems. The authors recognized the severity of coronary heart disease, and how a key component to this disease is inflammation. Prior research indicated that oral diseases resulting in inflammation may play a significantly contributing role to the development of coronary heart disease (Starkhammar...
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