Signs Of Gum Disease May Indicate High Risk Of Rheumatiod Arthritis

Many dental care specialists say that dental problems or poor oral health are always linked to other serious overall health problems. For example, such factors as your tongue color can say a lot of things about your overall health to an experienced dental expert. The same can be said about dental infections and certain tooth decay. According to the findings of a scientific group from the University of Adelaide, such dental condition as gum disease known also as periodontitis, can also be associated with increased risks of developing other serious disease. As it is stated in the report about the study, those who have signs of gum disease must be aware about the fact that the presence of this dental condition has been linked to severe rheumatoid arthritis, the experiments with lab mice have shown.

The report written by PhD student Melissa Cantley, one of the leaders of the Australian scientific team, was published earlier this year in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. The research group analyzed the condition of lab mice with the signs of gum disease and found out that in contrast to the mice from the control group with healthy gums, the mice with gum disease have shown clear signs of bone loss, especially in joints, which is associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Besides, Australian scientists discovered that the mice with the sings of gum disease suffer from serious bone loss in jaw. Therefore, the influence between gum disease and arthritis is mutual and very powerful: strong inflammation like gum disease seriously affects joints, and arthritis, in turn, immediately starts affecting jaw bone and other tissues in the mouth.

Cantley said that there was a number of previous researches that have found strong connections between rheumatoid arthritis and dental health: in particular, those patients who were diagnosed with arthritis suffer from high risk of tooth loss and other related dental problems. However, all previous studies have failed to find the causes of these links. According to Cantley, the findings of her research group have probably thrown some light to the issue. The scientist is convinced that the signs of gum disease, as well as the damage caused by rheumatoid arthritis, can be explained by inflammatory responses of the body. As it is quite common with other health conditions, when the first signs of gum disease appear (including red swollen gums,the first signs of inflammation, etc.) the body’s immune system starts attacking healthy joint tissues, causing cartilage and bone loss, further developing in rheumatoid arthritis.

Find detailed information about this study, its objectives, methods and conclusions in this report. The findings were presented this summer at the Australian Fresh Science national competition for early career researchers. It was said at the conference that the scientific group was about to start a new study to learn more about the links between gum disease and rheumatoid arthritis. In particular, Adelaide scientific team was interested in investigating if treating gum disease and other related dental conditions can assist in treating rheumatoid arthritis. In particular, the researchers are thinking about using histone deacetylase inhibitors and similar compounds which are widely applied in cancer treatment and psychiatry. These compounds are known for their very powerful anti-inflammatory effects and can be promising in treating the signs of gum disease which is estimated to affect about 60 per cent of patients with dental problems around the world.

 

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