Unique study to begin examination of whether treating periodontal disease cuts hea...( mbless also will serve as the coordina...),Health

Central to the work will be learning how heart patients who had their periodontal disease treated aggressively compared with heart patients who had not, Beck said. About 900 patients, all of whom have had a heart attack or are at high risk of one, will participate.

Other cooperating institutions will be Boston University, KaiserPermanente/Oregon Health Science University and the University of Maryland. Dentists, cardiologists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, dental hygienists and nurses will be involved. Others working on the research at UNC include Drs. Steven Offenbacher of the School of Dentistry, Timothy Nichols of the School of Medicine and David Couper of the School of Public Health.

At the end of all this work, we should have an answer for dentists in private practice who say, What should we tell our patients who ask us if they should have periodontal disease treated to reduce their heart disease? Beck said. No one in dentistry has ever attempted a study like this one before.

In related work, Beck and his UNC colleagues are studying whether gum disease and inflammation contribute to babies being born prematurely and weighing less than they should.

'"/>

Contact: David Williamson
david_williamson@unc.edu
919-962-8596
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
20-Nov-2001