Periodontal Diseases and Possible Future Cardiovascular Events, Are they Related? An Overview

Context: The association between periodontal disease (PD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been evaluated in many epidemiological studies; however, the results are controversial. Herein, we aimed to review if the childhood periodontal diseases are associated with future cardiovascular events or not. Evidence Acquisition: The current literature regarding childhood periodontal diseaseandfuture cardiovascular events in children aged less than 18 years was searched on PubMed, Scopus, ISI, and Google Scholar from January 2005 to March 2017. All studies investigating the association between periodontal disease and CVD were searched by using the following search terms: “coronary artery disease”, “coronary disease”, “heart disease”, “ischemic heart disease”, “myocardial infarction”, Children, “periodontal disease”, and “periodontitis”. Results: The most common form of periodontal disease is gingival bleeding and calculus. Periodontitis is associated with an elevated level of CRP, fibrinogen, and cytokines, which involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis-induced disease. Conclusions: Timely diagnosis and treatment of periodontal diseases is essential to maintain good oral health and help to decrease pathological changes like atherosclerosis, acute MI and stroke.