The content below was published in Reuters Health on October 25th, 2018.

Authored by Will Boggs MD

(Reuters Health) – Poor oral health makes it harder to for people with hypertension to manage their blood pressure, a new study suggests.

Among people being treated for hypertension (high blood pressure), those with gum disease had average blood pressure readings 2 to 3 mmHg (milligrams of mercury) higher than those without gum disease and were less likely to have their pressure under control with medication.

“Recent literature suggests that poor oral health is associated with several highly prevalent conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stroke, and obesity, and that it is related with increased mortality,” Dr. Davide Pietropaoli from the San Salvatore Hospital, University of L’Aquila, in Italy told Reuters Health.

“However, what we didn’t know and surprises us is that a condition known as periodontal disease can affect the efficacy of medications for high blood pressure.”

The researchers analyzed data from the annual U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2009 and 2014 on adults over age 30 with hypertension who underwent a dental exam, including 3,626 who said they were currently taking medication to control high blood pressure and 460 who said they were not.

Based on the dental exams, about 52 percent of participants had periodontal disease, a chronic inflammation of the tissue around the roots of teeth, which has also been linked to higher inflammation throughout the body, the researchers note in the journal Hypertension. Most of those with gum disease had moderately-severe cases, about 3 percent had mild disease and 12 percent had severe gum disease.

Average systolic blood pressure – the pressure exerted on blood vessel walls when the heart pumps, and typically the first number in a blood pressure reading – increased progressively from mild to moderate to severe periodontal disease, researchers found.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

An Update from Dr. Maestro

An Update from Dr. Maestro to Our Dental Family

Following his transition to part-time hours in January after 40 years of practicing dentistry in Albany, Dr. Christopher Maestro has now shared that he will fully retire from clinical practice at Maestro Dental Wellness this June. While this is a bittersweet moment for our team and community, we are deeply grateful for his decades of […]

Continue Reading

40 Year Anniversary Update from Dr. Maestro

Dr. Maestro would like to share this message with our community as he approaches his 40th year as a dentist in the Albany area.

Continue Reading
Maestro Dental Wellness Dental Assistant Nancy at her retirement party with the entire team.

Happy Retirement, Nancy

With 25 years of unwavering commitment to dental excellence, Nancy, our NYS Certified Licensed Dental Assistant, says farewell to Maestro Dental Wellness. A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Nancy’s enduring passion to dentistry has been evident every day since she became a part of our dental team in 1998. We are immensely grateful for […]

Continue Reading

New Patients

We believe that our role is to act as your advocate in attaining the level of optimum oral and general health that is most appropriate for you. Your journey to the level of oral health that best serves you begins with our getting to know you and truly understanding your concerns.

LEARN MORE
Subscribe to our newsletter

Get news and articles from our practice!

Thank You for Subscribing
Sorry

There was an error submitting. Please try again.