Dental Health Research

Efficacy of a silver colloidal gel against selected oral bacteria in vitro

This publication tested silver infused tooth gel against three of the most problematic of the mouth bacteria and deadly biofilms. This study was completed with the cooperation of multiple divisions of the Texas Tech School of Medicine and Viridis BioPharma. This paper shows the effectiveness of the silver tooth gel in killing pathogenic oral bacteria and eliminating deadly oral biofilms. It should also be noted that the product tested was manufactured by Viridis BioPharma under license from American Biotech Labs and that the product tested was the same as the Silver Biotics Tooth Gel product.

Bacterial signatures in thrombus aspirates of patients with myocardial infarction

Infectious agents, especially bacteria and their components originating from the oral cavity or respiratory tract, have been suggested to contribute to inflammation in the coronary plaque, leading to rupture and the subsequent development of coronary thrombus. We aimed to measure bacterial DNA in thrombus aspirates of patients with ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction and to check for a possible association between bacteria findings and oral pathology in the same cohort. Dental infection and oral bacteria, especially viridans streptococci, may be associated with the development of acute coronary thrombosis.

Apical periodontitis and incident cardiovascular events in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

To evaluate whether the presence of apical periodontitis (AP), root canal treatment (RCT) and endodontic burden (EB) - as the sum of AP and RCT sites - were associated with long-term risk of incident cardiovascular events (CVE), including cardiovascular-related mortality, using data on participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Ageing (BLSA). EB in midlife was an independent predictor of CVE amongst community-dwelling participants in the BLSA. Prospective studies are required to evaluate cardiovascular risk reduction with the treatment of AP.

The association of chronic apical periodontitis and endodontic therapy with atherosclerosis

Chronic apical periodontitis (CAP) appears to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease. The aims of the study were to estimate the significance of AP for the atherosclerotic burden and to examine the potential effect of endodontic treatment. CAP correlated positively with the aortic atherosclerotic burden. In regression models, CAP without endodontic treatment was found to be an important factor, not however apical radiolucencies in teeth with endodontic treatment.