How could your teeth be related to the immune system and cardiovascular system?
Answers:
It's not your teeth, but your oral cavity. Bacteria in the mouth can enter your blood stream, cause a chronic low grade infection and immune reaction. This bacteria surrounded by the blood stream can also settle on the lining of the heart or valves causing endocarditis and heart spoil.
Bluejay reference Streptococcus Viridans in his above answer, an opportunistic pathogen that resides within the mouth and is introduced to the bloodstream through the mucosa of the gums - becoming one of the major contributors to spout damage.
The teeth themselves, very little unless they become infected. However they do process your food, but the mouth is the bigger picture.
It is not only the valves that are at risk. Research has shown that mouth germs can be grown out of the atheromatous plaque that narrow coronary arteries. Frequently there is much inflammation in the plaques, and someone followed that up, showing this association.
I autopsy inhabitants daily and see a close association between poor dental hygiene and coronary artery disease, even in relatively young populace. It can be decayed teeth or periodontal disease, anything that intermittently showers the bloodstream with bacteria, a smoldering bacteremia.
The fact that bacteria reside in the mouth and can possibly twist up in the blood stream and settle on heart valves, doing damage nearby, is the only connection that I am aware of.
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