A quick mouth rinse could reveal whether people are likely to develop heart disease.
Gum inflammation has been linked with cardiovascular disease, leading scientists to develop an oral swill to pick up whether our mouths are inflamed.
Dentists say swollen and easy-to-bleed gums could be a sign of inflammation, which in turn could precede the tissue becoming diseased.
The gum disease – known as periodontitis – is linked with heart conditions.
As a result, high quantities of the white blood cells in the saliva fighting the periodontitis could be a warning sign of heart disease.
A high number of white blood cells picked up by the rinse is also associated with the arteries struggling to widen when more blood pumps through, according to scientists at Mount Royal University in Canada.
Struggling arteries could be a sign that the fluid-carrying tubes are unhealthy, which is another indicator of heart disease.
The mouth rinse could become routine in patients’ annual check-ups at the dentist, according to the study authors.
‘Even in young healthy adults, low levels of oral inflammatory load may have an impact on cardiovascular health – one of the leading causes of death,’ said Dr Trevor King, of Mount Royal University.
‘Optimal oral hygiene is always recommended in addition to regular visits to the dentist, especially in light of this evidence.
‘But this study was a pilot study. We are hoping to increase the study population and explore those results.
‘We are also hoping to include more individuals with gingivitis and more advanced periodontitis to more deeply understand the impact of different levels of gingival inflammation on cardiovascular measures.’
The team recruited 28 non-smokers, between the ages of 18 and 30, who had no cardiovascular risks or history of gum disease.
Each participant was asked to fast for six hours before testing, though they were permitted to drink water. At the lab they rinsed their mouths with water before gargling saline, to be tested.
After washing out their mouths, the group lay down for 10 minutes for an electrocardiogram and remained there for a further 10 while the experts took their blood pressure, flow-mediated dilation, and pulse-wave velocity.
Flow-mediated dilation measures how well arteries can dilate when more blood is pumped through, and pulse-wave velocity tests how stiff they are.
Stiff and poorly functioning arteries raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.
‘The mouth rinse test could be used at your annual checkup at the family doctors or the dentist,’ said co-author Dr Michael Glogauer of the University of Toronto.
‘It is easy to implement as an oral inflammation measuring tool in any clinic.’
The team found there was no link between white blood cells and pulse-velocity, suggesting longer-term impacts on arteries’ health was yet to take place when the rinse picked up a higher white blood cell count.
The experts suggest that inflammation in the mouth leaks into the vascular system and impacts the arteries’ ability to produce nitric oxide, the molecule that allows them to respond to blood flow.
First author Ker-Yung Hon, who is now studying dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, added: ‘We are starting to see more relationships between oral health and risk of cardiovascular disease.
‘If we are seeing that oral health may have an impact on the risk of developing cardiovascular disease even in young healthy individuals, this holistic approach can be implemented earlier on.’
The findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Oral Health.
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