The role of periodontal treatment in comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation

1) Background: Periodontitis is a chronic infectious, inflammatory disease associated with sig-nificant local disastrous effects due to alveolar bone destruction and systemic morbidities. Some associations between periodontitis and coronary and cerebrovascular diseases have been high-lighted in the literature. The present study investigated a group of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases and periodontitis and aimed to as-sess the comprehensive effects of nonsurgical periodontitis treatment. (2) Methods: The present study included 11 patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and perio-dontitis, that were diagnosed after a complete and a complex periodontal evaluation. These patients received periodontal treatment and peri-odontal reevaluation after 2 months from initial therapy. (3) Results: A significant improvement of the oral hygiene and gingival bleeding scores was recorded at two months follow-up. For moderate pockets of 5 mm, there was a significant reduction of their median values at two months follow-up moment (p=0.021). (4) Conclusion: The nonsurgical periodontal treatment significantly improves the clinical-related parameters of the periodontal tissues, as revealed by gingival bleeding and pocket closure.