{"id":367,"date":"2014-02-07T07:54:14","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T07:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.leslatnerdds.com\/?p=367"},"modified":"2014-03-07T17:57:03","modified_gmt":"2014-03-07T17:57:03","slug":"connection-oral-health-heart-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leslatnerdds.com\/blog\/connection-oral-health-heart-health\/","title":{"rendered":"The Connection between Oral Health and Heart Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\"oral<\/a>On February 14, couples across the country celebrated another Valentine\u2019s Day. Given how important the heart is to that day\u2014or at least cartoonish version of one\u2014we decided to use our first post of the month to talk about the connection between heart health and oral health.\r\n\r\nYou might be surprised to hear that your smile and your heart are connected, but recent data indicates that they are. How exactly? That\u2019s not entirely clear, but it seems to involve gum disease, a very common oral health problem.\r\n\r\nGum disease is caused by the accumulation of bacteria and plaque around the gum line. If left untreated, pockets can form between your teeth and your gums, giving bacteria and plaque a way into your bloodstream and other parts of the body as well, like the heart. Once there, they can contribute to clotting and even heart attack.\r\n\r\nBut heart health isn\u2019t the only thing gum disease can affect. Other health problems include:\r\n