By Losing Weight You Get Healthier Gums, Study Shows

A group of researchers from the Case Western University School of Dental Medicine has found that the human organism is able to fight much better gum disease, if the inflammation triggering fat cells disappear first from the body.

A group of researchers from the Case Western University School of Dental Medicine has found that the human organism is able to fight much better gum disease, if the inflammation triggering fat cells disappear first from the body.

Initially, the study involved 31 patients struggling with obesity and gum disease. Approximately 50% of these patients have gone through gastric bypass surgery in order to have fat cells from the abdomen removed. These patients had an average body mass index of 39.

The other part of the study group involved people with a lower BMI of 35, who were also going through treatment for gum disease, but who did not go through gastric bypass surgery.

Patients in both groups have gone through periodontal treatment (nonsurgical) including root planning and scaling, and they also received advice regarding how they should continue the treatment at home.

Even though both groups of patients involved in the study showed some improvements, the patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery got better medical results on measurements for pocket depths, plaque deposits, or bleeding.

According to Nabil Bissasa, from the department of periodontics at Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine, inflammation that is constantly present in the organism can have extremely harmful effects with the passing of time.

Inflammation pertaining to gum disease, can easily lead to eroded bone and even permanent tooth loss. Moreover, this inflammation can also cause breaks in the gums, and then the harmful bacteria can easily enter the bloodstream and cause other infections internally.

This particular study has been led by Nabil Bassada, and it was published in the Journal of Periodontology. Within the study there have been presented two different theories, which come to prove that patients who had less fat deposits actually saw an improvement in their gum disease problem.

One of the theories proves how losing weight will make insulin less resistant and then the diabetic status and periodontal disease will get improved.

The other theory relates to the “letptin” hormone (a hormone which regulates appetite), and how in patients with bariatric surgery the hormone production was reduced, inflammation has gone and thus periodontal disease has improved.

Researchers state there are still some studies and analyses needed, but they are extremely confident that these preliminary findings are extremely relevant in further studying how periodontal disease can be improved.