Yet the oral health links with heart disease are usually not mentioned in any medical-sourced information about heart disease risk factors – even though there is a lot of scientific research and evidence to support this link. Why? Because Dentistry is a separate field of study from Medicine. But in 2014, the University of Florida’s College of Dentistry and College of Medicine presented a joint study at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

Dr. Alexandra Lucas, a cardiologist from UFL’s College of Medicine and co-investigator in the research stated, “Our intent is to increase physician awareness of links between oral bacterial infection and heart disease. Understanding the importance of treating gum disease in patients with heart disease will lead to future studies and recommendations for careful attention to oral health in order to protect patients against heart disease,” The American Heart Foundation has since acknowledged the causal links between gum disease and heart disease.

They list a number of related research articles on their website. To date, the National Heart Foundation of Australia has not raised awareness to help increase public knowledge about the potential effects of gum disease on heart health. Clearly, the medical and dental fields still need to establish better co-operation, so that gum disease in not overlooked – when treating patients for heart disease.