Periodontitis and cardiovascular disease: A literature review

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are in charge of many deaths worldwide including myocardial infarction (MI), hypertension (HTN), coronary atherosclerosis (CAS), infective endocarditis (IE), heart failure (HF), arterial fibrillation (AF), and peripheral artery disease (PAD). Besides, periodontitis is the sixth prevalent disease among humans and it seems that there are common risk factors between these diseases which are creating communication between prevalence and treatment. The purpose of this study is to assess the articles that reviewed the relationship between heart diseases and periodontitis. METHODS: Three databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched until November 2020. The search terms “periodontal disease, periodontitis, oral health, cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction, hypertension, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, arterial fibrillation, arrhythmia, and peripheral artery disease” were used in combination to identify the publications providing data. RESULTS: MI, HTN, atherosclerosis diseases for coronary artery, IE, HF, AF, and PAD were associated with periodontitis. It seems that the treatment of periodontitis may help to improve the state of mentioned heart-related diseases. However, more studies are needed to prove this relationship. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of heart diseases is more common in individuals with periodontitis.