A tooth cavity and bleeding gums is a common scenario among Danish children—and one that Danish researchers now connect to health problems long after the last baby tooth has left the mouth.
A new study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen has concluded that children who have multiple tooth cavities or suffer from severe gingivitis show a markedly higher incidence of stroke, heart attack, and coronary artery disease as adults.
The researchers analysed data from 568,000 children born in the 1960s and 70s from the Danish Health Authority’s National Child Odontology Registry and compared them with data on cardiovascular diseases in the National Patient Register up to 2018, when the children had reached adulthood.
The findings are published in the International Journal of Cardiology.
By examining these extensive datasets, the researchers identified several striking patterns. Children with numerous tooth cavities had up to a 45 per cent higher incidence of cardiovascular disease in adulthood compared to children with few tooth cavities. For children with severe gingivitis, the incidence was up to 41 per cent higher. The figures vary by sex, but the trend is clear for both groups. At the same time, the incidence seemed to increase as dental problems worsen throughout childhood.
So, what explains the link between dental disease and cardiovascular disease? The researchers cannot say for certain based on this study, as they did not investigate the causes but merely identified statistical correlations. One theory, however, points to inflammation.
“We suspect that exposure to high levels of inflammation in the form of gum disease and dental caries already in childhood may influence how the body later responds to inflammation,” study co-author Nikoline Nygaard said.
