Cavity-Causing Microbes Invading your Heart
Oral health and Gum care is important to over all health care and should not be over looked. New research discovered that bacteria, normally found in our mouths, is a tool that can be use to invade heart tissue, causing a dangerous and sometimes lethal infection of the heart known as endocarditis. S. mutans is a bacterium best known for causing cavities.
The study done 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.
Normally, S. mutans normally confine themselves to the mouth, but sometimes, after a dental procedure or even after a vigorous bout of flossing, the bacteria can enter the bloodstream. Our 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.