Periodontal Inflammation: The Oral-Body Health Connection

Periodontal Inflammation: The Oral-Body Health Connection is organized by The American Dental Assistants Association (ADAA).

Accreditation:
CE Credits: 3

Course Description:
Inflammation represents the body’s protective response to injury and tissue destruction. This response consists of a spectrum of highly coordinated events that occur at the cellular and tissue level. Its purpose is to destroy, dilute, or sequester the injurious agent and the injured tissues in order to permit healing. Inflammation is a defensive mechanism intended to protect the host, but can also be potentially harmful. Clinical signs of inflammation are redness due to open blood vessels, heat due to warmth of blood, swelling due to edema, pain due to stimulation of pain receptors, and loss of function due to edema.

Periodontitis is the inflammation of the periodontium (gingiva and underlying connective tissue) resulting in features such as clinical attachment loss, alveolar bone loss, and periodontal pocketing. In periodontitis, one can see enlargement or recession of the gingivae, bleeding upon probing, increased tooth mobility, drifting of teeth, and/or tooth exfoliation. Chronic periodontitis is a slowly progressing disease process that may occur continuously or in bursts of activity. Historically, the gingival tissue from chronic periodontitis displays junctional epithelium more apical to the cemento-enamel junction, loss of collagen fibers subjacent to the pocket epithelium, bone loss, numerous neutrophils (polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs), and dense inflammatory cell infiltrate with plasma cells, lymphocytes, and macrophages.

Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, the dental professional should be able to:
• Explain the mechanism by which periodontal disease causes production of inflammatory mediators that enter the systemic circulation and affect organ systems in the body
• Explain the mechanism by which inflammatory mediators effect vessel plaque formation and lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease
• Explain the mechanism by which periodontal disease mediators worsen the condition in diabetes mellitus
• Describe the association of periodontal disease and the increased risk of development of pneumonia and COPD in the elderly
• Describe the probable association of periodontal disease, tooth loss, and osteoporosis
• Clarify how appropriate treatment of periodontal disease can lead to improvement in outcomes in many of the above disease processes.

Original Release Date: 2011; Review Date: 2019; Expiration Date: 2022