Research ties gum disease to heart disease and to diabetes. It doesn’t show that gum disease causes either condition. At Natural Smiles, a biological dentistry practice in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, Dr. Carlo Litano, DMD, reviews what this research does and doesn’t say. Dr. Litano has more than 20 years of biological practice.
What the research shows and does not show
Gum disease is tied to heart disease and to diabetes, according to research Dr. Litano reviews with patients. That research doesn’t show that gum disease causes heart disease or diabetes. A connection between the mouth and the body is not proof of cause.
The practice’s research page cites the CDC’s Gum Disease Facts, a 2012 American Heart Association statement, a 2012 study by Preshaw and colleagues in Diabetologia, and a 2022 Cochrane review of periodontal treatment and diabetes. These sources describe a connection between gum disease and these conditions. None of them show that gum disease causes heart disease or diabetes.
Risk factors gum disease and heart disease share
Gum disease and heart disease share risk factors: smoking, age and diabetes. A person with these risk factors may see gum disease and heart disease show up together, without either causing the other.
Either condition can make the other harder to manage. A patient managing diabetes may find gum disease adds another layer to that work, and gum disease may be harder to manage when diabetes isn’t controlled.
Understanding these connections helps patients and their medical providers coordinate care. A dental finding is part of a larger picture that includes a patient’s full health history, not a single data point.
What Natural Smiles does with a dental finding
Dr. Litano looks at a dental finding alongside your full health history. Cleanings and gum care at the practice are fluoride free. This review covers the mouth-body connection and may include laser periodontal therapy, holistic cleanings or a 3D CBCT scan, depending on the case in front of Dr. Litano.
A written plan listing the full cost comes before any treatment begins. You know what a visit involves and what it costs before you agree to it. This plan comes after Dr. Litano has looked at the dental finding in the context of your broader health history, not before.
How Natural Smiles works with your physician
On request, Dr. Litano will contact the physician or practitioner who manages your care. Findings go directly to that provider, so your physician sees the same dental information Dr. Litano reviewed.
What Natural Smiles does not say
Biological dentistry is not an officially recognized dental specialty. It complements medical care and doesn’t replace it. Dr. Litano presents the research as it stands, without adding statements beyond what the sources show.
No evidence shows that treating gum disease prevents heart disease. A connection between gum disease and heart disease is not the same as a cause, and Dr. Litano does not describe it that way to patients. Patients and their physicians make decisions about heart disease and diabetes together, with dental findings as a part of that picture, not the whole of it.
To learn what your dental history might show about these connections, schedule a visit with Dr. Litano at Natural Smiles in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.
