Does Periodontal Disease Cause Systemic Disease?

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist
April 22, 2019

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Periodontal Disease and Systemic Disease 

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Yes, but… How’s that for an answer that keeps you hanging? Let me explain.

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Yes – Once periodontal disease is established in the mouth, its pathological byproducts can seep into the bloodstream, lymph fluid, and bone structures to cause spread of infection and inflammation to all areas of the body. In this way, periodontal disease can cause systemic disease.

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But… – Although periodontal disease is a focus of infection around the teeth, it has its origin in an area that is remote from the mouth. The gut is the seed to the manifestation of most systemic chronic diseases, which periodontal disease is just one of many.

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Recently Published Article

In February 2019, a medical research article was published in Biomedical Journal[1] titled, “Association between periodontal pathogens and systemic disease”. The authors describe the correlation between periodontal disease and various chronic diseases and outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal and colorectal cancer, diabetes and insulin resistance, Alzheimer’s disease, respiratory tract infections, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The authors go on to state that there are conflicting studies, which try to prove causal relationships. However, there is significant research to show a strong correlation.

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Cause of Periodontal Disease

Dental plaque is healthy until it’s not healthy.[2] Periodontal disease develops from unhealthy dental plaque. Unhealthy plaque results when healthy plaque is transformed into unhealthy dental plaque because of an underlying compromised immune system and unhealthy food choices. The compromised immune system has its roots in unhealthy changes in the gut. [3],[4]

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Interestingly, there are three human studies that showed a healthy diet alone can improve the health of the mouth. These studies also determined that removing dental plaque by brushing and flossing was not critical to improve oral health as long as diet was corrected. Specifically, the investigators demonstrated that changing from a diet abundant in high-processed-carbohydrate and inflammatory foods to a diet excluding high-processed-carbohydrate and inflammatory foods will decrease signs of gum disease.[5],[6],[7]

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My Theory of Systemic Chronic Disease

My research suggests that periodontal disease is not the seed of all systemic disease. I believe that periodontal disease is just one of many chronic diseases on the continuum of the spread of systemic disease that starts in the gut. Since the mouth is visible and easy to examine, the mouth may be the first clinical area where disease is diagnosed. But the ultimate starting point is in the gut before becoming visible in the mouth and other areas of the body.

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Once systemic disease spreads, a vicious cycle begins because all tissues affect all other tissues in the human body. Tissues use “crosstalk” to communicate with other tissues.[8],[9],[10]

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My theory starts in the gut. Unhealthy changes in the gut microbiome are called gut dysbiosis.

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The gut microbiome, the intestinal mucus layer, and the epithelial lining of the gut become damaged from potentially many different influences. Detrimental lifestyle, toxic elements in the environment, and inflammatory foods are major contributors that can damage the gut and create gut dysbiosis. Leakage from a damaged gut into the bloodstream and into the lymph fluid can cause systemic chronic inflammation and a break down in the body’s ability to fight infection. Both will affect all other tissues in the body.

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I wrote an article where I described my theory of how chronic disease is created in the body. I cite over 30 peer-reviewed medical articles to support my views. My paper, Big Bang Theory of Chronic Disease, was published in-part in 2018 in Well Being Journal, Volume 27, #2. If you would like the PDF of this article, email your request to: Dr.Danenberg@iCloud.com.

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The Mouth

In the mouth, a compromised immune system caused by gut dysbiosis can allow the overgrowth of pathological bacteria. Unhealthy changes in dental plaque and unhealthy food choices will initiate periodontal disease. Then, periodontal disease, as a unique site of infection in the mouth, will begin to spread, causing additional systemic chronic inflammation and chronic diseases.

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To treat periodontal disease and to avoid chronic disease, active infection in the mouth must be treated efficiently. In addition, irritating and toxic substances must be removed from the mouth and teeth. However, gut dysbiosis must be treated simultaneously. Just treating either the damaged gut or active periodontal disease will be insufficient.

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[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2319417018302634?via%3Dihub

[2] https://drdanenberg.com/dental-plaque-is-healthy-until-its-not/

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5892391/

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5937375/

[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19405829

[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4962497/pdf/12903_2016_Article_257.pdf

[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1111%2Fjcpe.13094

[8] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cea.12723

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=10.1016%2Fj.cyto.2017.01.016

[10] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6266996/

 

 

 

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What’s the Big Deal About the Mouth?

Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS       September 5, 2015

 

evolution rThe mouth is the window to your entire body. Almost all diseases have some effect in the mouth. The oral cavity reflects many of our body’s internal mysteries. What happens on the cellular level frequently works its way to manifest in some fashion in the mouth. Many times the signs of systemic diseases appear in the mouth before the systemic disease is even suspected.

 

Changes in the mouth can take many forms from bleeding gums to ulcerations in the soft tissues; from swelling of the tongue to changes in the bone structures; from cracking in the lips to variations in color and texture, from loss of taste to difficulty in swallowing, from mouth dryness to excessive saliva. The lips, the corners of the mouth, the soft moist tissues inside the mouth, the teeth, the muscles of the tongue and jaw, and the bone itself are areas that can alter their color, texture, and chemical structure when cellular damage occurs in other parts of the body. What happens in the body almost always will make itself known in the mouth. The mouth is intimately connected to the rest of the body, and the body is intricately connected to what occurs in the mouth.

 

Here are just a few of the disturbances from various parts of the body that may reveal themselves in and around the mouth:

  • Allergic reactions
  • Viral infections
  • Fungal infections
  • Bacterial infections
  • Side effects from various medicines
  • Blood disorders like anemia
  • Endocrine dysfunctions like hypothyroidism and diabetes
  • Liver dysfunction
  • Intestinal diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis
  • Autoimmune diseases like lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome
  • Reflux disease (GERD = gastro esophageal reflux disease)
  • Bulimia/anorexia
  • Stress
  • Cancers like multiple myeloma and leukemia
  • Nutritional defects like vitamin C deficiency and zinc deficiency
  • HIV disease

 

The mouth is not an island unto itself. You must be concerned about anything and everything in the mouth, but many medical professionals often overlook it.