Cavities Can Affect Your Heart Health

The presentation of caries is highly variable; however, the risk factors and stages of development are similar. Initially, it may appear as a small chalky area that may eventually develop into a large cavitation. Sometimes caries may be directly visible, however other methods of detection such as radiographs are used for less visible areas of teeth and to judge the extent of destruction. Lasers for detecting caries allow detection without radiation and now are being used for detection of interproximal decay (between the teeth). Disclosing solutions are also available that are used during tooth restoration to minimize the chance of the recurrence.

  Caries can be classified by location, etiology, rate of progression, and affected hard tissues. These forms of classification can be used to characterize a particular case of tooth decay in order to more accurately represent the condition to others and also indicate the severity of tooth destruction.  

Scientists have discovered the tool that bacteria, normally found in our mouths, use to invade heart tissue, causing a dangerous and sometimes lethal infection of the heart known as endocarditis. The work raises the possibility of creating a screening tool - perhaps a swab of the cheek, or a spit test - to gauge a dental patient's vulnerability to the condition.   S. mutans is a bacterium best known for causing cavities. The bacteria reside in dental plaque - an architecturally sophisticated goo composed of an elaborate molecular matrix created by S. mutans that allows the bacteria to inhabit and thrive in our oral cavity. There, they churn out acid that erodes our teeth.   

Normally, S. mutans confines its mischief to the mouth, but sometimes, particularly after a dental procedure or even after a vigorous bout of flossing, the bacteria enter the bloodstream. There, the immune system usually destroys them, but occasionally - within just a few seconds - they travel to the heart and colonize its tissue, especially heart valves. The bacteria can cause endocarditis - inflammation of heart valves - which can be deadly. Infection by S. mutans is a leading cause of the condition.   

"When I first learned that S. mutans sometimes can live in the heart, I asked myself: Why in the world are these bacteria, which normally live in the mouth, in the heart? I was intrigued. And I began investigating how they get there and survive there," said Jacqueline Abranches, Ph.D., a microbiologist and the corresponding author of the study.   

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