Take Care of Your Gums.............

Here's a recent article linking gum disease to AFIB- [www.newsmax.com]

Thanks for the Post! Maybe that's why it might be a good idea to ask the dentist to do an aMMp8 saliva test even when we don't have an obvious gum problem.

"We prospectively enrolled 288 AF patients scheduled to undergo initial radiofrequency catheter ablation. Each patient underwent periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA; a quantitative index of periodontal inflammation) measurement. All eligible patients were recommended to receive periodontal treatment within the blanking period, and 97 consented. " Published paper link

This could indicate "healthy user bias." Meaning that those who consented to gum treatment are more likely to have done other healthy things (obeyed doctor's instruction & etc).

That being said, I'm a big advocate of proper gum care. This post in another group outlines various approaches to deal with severe gum disease.

While not directly attributable to AF, there was a famous study published probably 20 years ago now linking infected gums/periodontal disease to atherosclerosis and myocarditis. It's just an elbow swing to reach toward AF. Thanks for posting...it's all a reinforcement to clean our mouths at least once a day....thoroughly. I never fail to do mine before bed to ensure it doesn't taste, or smell, like the bottom of a bird cage next morning. My insurance allows two prophylaxes each year, and I use 'em.

I have a friend who nearly died due to gum disease. She developed endocarditis, which comes with a 25% mortality rate. She spent two weeks in the hospital with 5 days of that in ICU.

When I was 22, a dentist just happened to see a circular shadow under my wisdom teeth on x-ray. That shadow was a cyst that had developed. He said that cyst put me at big risk for endocarditis, which is why the oral surgeon had me on antibiotics for a month. Although the cyst was due to impacted wisdom teeth rather than gum disease, any bacterial infection in the gums and teeth can lead to endocarditis.