The Plausible Relationship Between Periodontitis and Glaucoma

Periodontitis has been associated with several medical conditions. For some of these medical conditions, periodontitis has been hypothesized to share important pathogenic mechanisms with other systemic conditions affecting the body. Recently, advances in technology have led to the identification of novel inflammatory mediators implicated in some chronic medical conditions associated with periodontitis. The potential identification of these systemic inflammatory mediators in periodontitis would offer additional support to the potential periodontal-systemic disease association. In recent years, the term oral foci of infection has attained an upturn in terms of systemic morbidities, while finite scrutinization indicates the implication of chronic oral inflammation in the pathogenesis of eye diseases. Initially, there is a singularity for the mechanistic understanding of the reported link between periodontal diseases and ocular comorbidities. There is a limited number of scientific evidence in the literature that suggests a relationship between glaucoma and periodontitis, and they share a common pathway/link based on inflammatory markers. Based on a molecular biological technique, it was believed by researchers and clinicians that eye diseases were a result of oral infections. Furthermore, this review will try to focus on the concept of oral dysbiosis in the progression of inflammatory eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, scleritis, uveitis, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).