Dr Michelle Dickinson: nanotechnologist on the connection between oral health and heart disease

Most of us think of oral health as something that affects our teeth and gums. But what if what’s happening inside your mouth is quietly influencing the rest of your body's long-term risk of disease - including diabetes and heart disease? 

A new study published in the Journal of Translational Medicine has just found exactly that. 

The study followed 65 people who were treated for root canal infections, a type of deep tooth infection that lets harmful microbes seep into the bloodstream. 

The researchers tracked 44 different metabolites, small molecules in the blood linked to inflammation and metabolism, both before the root canal treatment and again over the next two years. 

They found that:

• Within three months, signs of systemic inflammation dropped. 
• Two years later, several markers of metabolic health, including blood glucose levels had significantly improved. 

A root canal infection is more than a sore tooth, it’s a chronic bacterial invasion. When bacteria and toxins escape from infected tissue, they can enter the bloodstream and spark inflammation throughout the body. 

Over time, this chronic inflammation is known to interfere with how our body handles glucose - potentially increasing insulin resistance, elevating blood sugar and putting extra strain on the heart and blood vessels.

The results showed that: 

• Over half of the metabolites shifted significantly.
• Some amino acids linked to insulin resistance dropped.
• Cholesterol dipped temporarily after three months.
• At the two-year point, glucose levels were notably lower.
• Pyruvate, a molecule involved in inflammatory pathways, also declined.

The study raises the question around whether dental and physical health records should be connected, so doctors and dentists can work together helping to improve your overall health holistically. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks. It'd be and at there's.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Time for our science study and I'm joined by doctor
Michelle Dickinson.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Good morning, Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Right, You've got a.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Really interesting studies today that looks at how our mouth
can be influencing the rest of our body's health.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, and also how you know, often we don't work
together when we look at who's working on our bodies.
So dentists often are not working with doctors to look
at our whole body. Dentist still with our teeth, doctors
still with the rest of us. And this study is
the first in its kind to go, Hey, dentists know
some stuff that maybe doctors should know too. So if
you are due for a root can our treatment and

(00:48):
you're probably dreading it, do not panic because actually maybe
something good is going to happen from it. So people
usually have root can now because something inside their tooth
pulp is infected and they need to sort of treat that.
What people don't realize is their tooth pulp is connected
to their bloodstream, right, It's connected to their no system
and their blood cets to their nerves and their blood vessels,

(01:09):
and so any affection there is actually going to spread
all around your body. And what we didn't know is
if we clean up the infection in your tooth, does
that affect the rest of your body? And the answer,
thanks to this new study and the Journal of Translational Medicine,
is yes, massively has a huge effect on minimizing your
body's long term risk of diseases, including diabetes and heart disease.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
Who knew we can't even get doctors to talk to doctors, Michelle,
How would we get doctors to talk to dtists.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
It's pretty crazy, but no way of this lovely data.
So they took these sixty five patients. They followed them
for two years before they had their root canal treatment,
but they already had a root canal infection and afterwards,
and what they found is that within three months of
their root canal treatment, massive signs of systemic information had dropped.
So that makes sense, you're not infecting your bloodream anymore,
but also amino acids linked to insulin resistance dropped, their

(02:03):
cholesterols dropped. After the two years. At the end of
the study, the glucose levels were much much lower. In
all of these patients, which means that having a root
canal could be the cause of some of your overlying
health issues and so treating your mouth and they always
say good oral health least good overall health outcomes actually

(02:25):
could be good for reducing your blood cholesterol, reducing your
fatty acid levels, and helping to control cardiovascular and diabetes
disease in the long term. So I'm just saying this
because anybody who's got a root canal come, they might
be dreading it, but just know that you're probably going
to do this amazing thing for your body. It's not
as bad as it seems. So finally good news for

(02:46):
people due for root canals.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
Fascinating. Thank you so much, Michelle, appreciate it. How does
an asparagus resotto with spring onions and rocket sound. I
think it sounds pretty good, to be honest with you,
Mike bender Elsen. Here's the recipe for US sneakst It's
twenty to eleven.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
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