Current knowledge on the association between cardiovascular and periodontal disease: an umbrella review.
Level 1 - systematic review of randomized trials
Umbrella review of 31 systematic reviews and 8 meta-analyses
PubMed 35332749 · doi:10.23736/S2724-5683.22.06022-7
What was done
This umbrella review searched PubMed/Medline and the Cochrane Library for systematic reviews evaluating the association between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease. Internal validity was evaluated using the Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire tool in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. The review synthesized 31 systematic reviews (including 8 meta-analyses), covering 507 clinical studies and over 3,549,966 patients.
What was found
Periodontal disease was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (acute coronary syndrome, acute myocardial infarction) and cerebrovascular disease (ischemic stroke). The abstract provides no specific numerical effect sizes, odds ratios, or confidence intervals. The authors reported that evidence is heterogeneous, causality cannot be established, and whether periodontal treatment reduces cardiovascular event risk remains uninvestigated.
Why it matters
This review synthesizes broad clinical literature across millions of patients confirming an epidemiological link between oral and vascular health, while clearly identifying the lack of evidence for treatment benefit.
Limits
The abstract contains no quantitative metrics or numerical risk estimates. The underlying literature is largely observational and heterogeneous, precluding causal conclusions, and long-term randomized interventional trials examining clinical cardiovascular endpoints after periodontal therapy are lacking.
Cited by
- context Periodontal pathogens in the mouth can cause heart attacks, brain damage, increased risk for stroke, and preterm birth in pregnancy.